


A Certain Romance

by heroofcanton



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alcohol, F/M, M/M, Marauders, Marijuana, Oral Sex, Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-06
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-02-16 09:25:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2264463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heroofcanton/pseuds/heroofcanton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When James dares Remus to kiss Sirius, he doesn't expect his friend to react quite so enthusiastically...</p><p>Following the events that lead up to that moment</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How it all began

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Margo my darling sister](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Margo+my+darling+sister).



> Hey there! This is just an idea I had, if you guys like it, please tell me and I'll write more :)

There was music playing in the little dorm room, there was smoke in the air, smell of booze and there were teenagers sitting on the floor with an empty Firewhiskey bottle in the middle of them. The Marauders were there, as well as Lily, Marlene, Alice, Frank, Meadowes and some Ravenclaw bloke she dragged along. They were all pretty drunk by now, Remus leaning his head on a bedpost and smoking a cigarette, James had his arm around Lily’s shoulder and she didn’t even seem to mind, Marlene was trying to flirt with Sirius and he was ignoring her; something he would never do sober. Dorcas and the Ravenclaw were snogging, paying no attention to the others, Peter was doing his best not to fall asleep or puke. Alice and Frank kept glancing at each other, giggling and then looking away.  
  
It was James’ turn to spin the bottle and he did so with much vigour and it landed on the lanky, sand-haired boy.   
  
“Moonster! Truth or dare?” James called out, giving Remus a mischievous grin that usually meant trouble. At any other time, Remus would narrow his eyes, think out his options and possibly opt for the less dangerous one, it depended on their fun levels. Now, however, he didn’t bat an eyelid before saying ‘Dare.’  
  
“Iiiii dare you tooooo.... snog our dear Padfoot!” Prongs said in a tone that indicated he clearly thought he won now and that Moony would become embarrassed or tell him to fuck off.  
  
Neither of those things happened. Remus looked at Sirius, raised his eyebrow and took a long drag on his fag. Sirius curled up the corners of his lips invitingly and gave a tiny shrug. The werewolf grinned, walked across the circle, with the cigarette still between his lips and he straddled Sirius’ lap, held the cigarette in one of his hands, leaned down and pressed his lips to the other boy’s.  
  
As Sirius wrapped his arms around Remus, pulling him down into the kiss, enjoying the way Remus tasted of nicotine, alcohol and chocolate, he deepened the kiss.   
  
Around them, the other students were watching them, gobsmacked. James was staring at them like they’d just turned into Hipogriffs, Peter was seriously beginning to question his level of drunkenness because Remus and Sirius couldn’t possibly be kissing. Alice and Marlene were watching them with fascination and, frankly, arousal. Frank, Dorcas and the Ravenclaw – Tom? – were matching James’ stare and Lily was trying really hard not to start laughing. Finally, James regained partial control over his brain and he started spluttering incoherently, which made Remus smirk into the kiss and that was all sorts of good for Sirius.  
  
Sirius gripped Moony’s hips harder, pulling him even closer to himself and Remus broke the kiss, only to continue kissing Sirius’s jaw, travelling to his neck, where he drove the other boy crazy with some fascinating uses of tongue and teeth. His eyes remained closed as he leaned his head back, giving Remus better access to his neck and he moaned happily.  
  
“Okay, enough! Enough enough enough!” James yelled, waving his hands frantically. Next to him, Lily was covering her mouth with her hand, hiding her grin and her face was as red as her hair from the effort that went into not laughing. Peter was now watching the couple with some sort of morbid fascination, thinking that at least now, he knew what going mad feels like. Dorcas shrugged and pulled Tom back to her, Marlene and Alice shuffled awkwardly as they were sitting on either sides of the couple and Frank wrapped his arm around Alice subconsciously as he continued to stare, transfixed at Sirius and Remus.  
  
“Don’t stop.” Sirius muttered in Remus’ ear and in reply felt the boy’s teeth graze his neck, followed by his tongue. He sighed happily, opened his eyes and looked at James defiantly, raising his eyebrow. Oh, he could stay like this forever, with Moony on his lap, pleasantly drunk and maybe a tiny bit high.  
  
James disagreed with that ideology and he kept yelling and spluttering nonsense at them, now standing up, until Remus pulled back and turned around to glare at his friend.   
  
“Prongs. Was this not your dare?” he growled quietly, obviously very upset he couldn’t continue. Sirius ran his hand up his back calmingly and truth be told, he was mostly amused at James’ reaction than angry. There’d be plenty of time to snog the life out of Remus later, and he suspected that his best friend’s facial expression would change soon, so he wanted to savour it.   
  
Lily finally gathered herself enough so that she was only grinning now and she reached up to take James’ hand, pulling him down. The bespectacled boy kept staring at the two Marauders with opened mouth, trying to think of a response. He didn’t even acknowledge that Lily – _Lily Evans_  – was holding his hand.  
  
“But- but... You two!” James yelled and Sirius snorted, buried his face in Remus’ neck and shook with laughter. The corner of Remus’ lips twitched, but he continued to glare at James.  
  
“Is there a problem?” he demanded.  
  
James huffed loudly and gave a sort of a shrug that involved flailing his arms around. That’s when he realized there was someone holding his hand, as Lily let out a surprised ‘Ow!’ and he turned to look at her slowly. She smiled up at him sweetly, giving his arm a tug and he sat down obediently.   
  
She passed him a half empty bottle of Firewhiskey and he took a mighty sip, closing his eyes and trying to make sense out of things.   
  
His two best mates were snogging. Very enthusiastically. Lily was holding his hand. He caressed her hand with his thumb absentmindedly as his attention was still on Sirius and Remus. His best mates. Finally he shrugged and grinned at them. Who the fuck even gave a shit.  
  
“No problem. Silencing Charms though, lads.” He held up the bottle and pointed his index finger at them, but they weren’t really listening anymore, having gone back to snogging while he was mulling things over.  
  
“Er. James.” Lily said, clearing her throat and looking pointedly down at their hands. “I didn’t mean... I only meant to pull you down, see.” She said, but she looked embarrassed, which was a very nice change from her usual anger. James grinned crookedly at her and gently let her hand go, ignoring the fact they were both blushing furiously.  
  
After that, it took about fifteen minutes to get Moony and Padfoot off of each other to continue the game. They all got even drunker as the night progressed and at one point, Remus had to deal with a very drunk Peter, who was trying to tell him what Moony and Pads did before and could Remus believe it.  
  
  


_Three weeks earlier_

  
  
Remus and Lily were lying on a blanket on top of the Astronomy Tower, surrounded by smoke. They were passing a joint between them, conversing in a light and friendly manner that comes with very good friends. Right now, they were listing the people they’ve snogged or more in the past.  
  
“McKinnon, the... the boy.” Remus said, trying and failing to remember the name of the male McKinnon sibling. “Last Friday in a broom closet on Fifth.” He said, smiling fondly at the memory.  
  
“Matt.” Lily nodded and took a deep drag. “Two weeks ago, at that party in Hufflepuff Common Room.” The girl said, watching the smoke she had just exhaled, fascinated. “Nick.”  
  
Remus hummed in agreement and took the blunt from the witch.   
  
“Last Hogsmeade visit.” Lily continued. “I agreed to go with him only because Potter was being an absolute dick to him whenever he saw me with him.”  
  
“Didn’t have to snog him though...” Remus teased.  
  
“Yeah, but he’s pretty.” The girl laughed and Remus joined her.  
  
“He is.” The werewolf agreed and tried to remember when it was that he made out with the boy in question. He knew it happened, but he’s spent a lot of time high lately and it was all more or less a blur. “Fourth year!” he finally remembered and nodded to himself. “Ran into him in a bookstore on Diagon during Christmas hols and, well.”  
  
Sirius was fuming from where he was sitting on the floor under the Invisibility Cloak. He had followed Moony up there because he was convinced he was having a date with Evans and was ready to denounce him and yell at him for being a horrible friend to James. This, however, was much worse.  
  
He had no idea –  _no idea_  – that Remus even liked blokes, let alone that he’s snogged practically half the school. It was preposterous and ridiculous and wrong and it made Sirius angry. Marauders weren’t supposed to keep secrets, that was the sole reason for his anger. He wanted to punch every single guy that has ever touched Moony because how dare he keep secrets from Sirius. His anger had absolutely nothing to do with the fact he was suddenly thinking about what it would be like, to kiss those soft lips, run his fingers through Moony’s hair, trace the scars on his body with his tongue... No. No, that had nothing to do with it.  
  
He glared at the two Prefects and thought back to two years ago. He remembered the ride back to Hogwarts at Christmas and yes, he remembered thinking Remus was acting a bit odd, especially when those Ravenclaws came in their carriage. It all seemed accidental then and the boys left quickly and then Sirius was more focused on planning another prank to pay attention to Remus’ mood.  
  
“Marlene.” Remus was saying now. “I never did, but...?”  
  
Lily giggled and took the joint from the wizard. “Yep, on and off since third year. Amazing snog and a good friend, too.” She said, before taking a deep drag, a smile playing on her lips.  
  
Sirius’ mind was temporarily very busy with imagining Evans kissing the raven-haired beauty from seventh year... It was so, so nice...  
  
“Black.” Sirius looked up, startled, but only saw Lily looking at Remus with an odd glint in her eyes. He saw Remus reach for the blunt, but the redhead held it outside his reach, smirking. “Black.” She repeated and Remus laid back down with a frustrated sigh.  
  
“No.” He said, impatiently.

Sirius was almost a little hurt.  
  
“But you want to.” Lily teased in a sing-song voice and Sirius stopped breathing, waiting for Remus’ response. There was none. Lily tsked and poked Remus in his cheek with her free hand.   
  
“You know I do, Lils.” Moony sighed. There was longing and sadness in his voice that made Sirius’ stomach clench unpleasantly. He had no idea his friend felt that way. He watched as Lily silently passed the joint to Remus and then the werewolf was surrounded by smoke.   
  
The witch then started talking about some Muggle book and Remus’ voice got more cheerful as they discussed the author and his life. It would be mind-numbingly boring if Sirius didn’t have Remus’ feelings to think about.   
  
Remus wanted to snog him.   
  
Sirius always knew he was dashing, handsome, beautiful and all the other adjectives you could think of, but he never thought of himself as being attractive to blokes. Well... It didn’t really make a difference, did it? He was still all of those things and, more importantly, Remus thought so too. He didn’t really know why that made so much difference. It wasn’t only because they were best friends, it wasn’t because they’ve seen each other naked before – when you live in a small dormitory room, some things just never stay secret – it was something else, but he didn’t know what it was. It didn’t make him uncomfortable, though.   
  
Well, he didn’t like his friend suffering and that did make him uncomfortable, but he found he had no reservations about Remus being gay. With a quiet sigh, Sirius just wished Remus would have told him himself and that he would have told him about all those people he’s snogged.  
  
The Prefects fell into comfortable silence again and Sirius wished they would decide to go back to their rooms soon. He was beginning to get cold.  
  
“You want to shag him.” Lily said suddenly, as in a matter-of-fact, while staring up at the stars through the smoke.  
  
Remus didn’t have to ask who she meant. He rubbed his hands over his face, letting out a frustrated noise. “He just... He keeps walking around wet and with only a towel on. It’s fucking infuriating.”  
  
Lily laughed and then coughed, passing the blunt back to him. He took it, took a deep drag and kept it in his mouth as he kept talking. “And, sometimes, he doesn’t even bother with the towel. Fucking ridiculous.” He muttered and took another drag.  
  
Next to him, the witch hummed appreciatively and smiled. “Mmm. Black, right after a shower. Those muscles are killer.” Sirius heard Remus hum in agreement and he couldn’t help but feel incredibly proud. Also, he would give Evans hell because of this. She was always acting so icy and distant towards him and now he found out she likes his muscles.  
  
“How ‘bout you wear a towel too, bump into him,  _accidentally_ , and, voilà!” Lily made a vague hand gesture in the air.   
  
Remus muttered something unintelligible.  
  
“What was that?”  
  
“Might have tried that once.”  
  
“And? What happened?”   
  
“Nothing. James walked by, commented something about an orgy and disposed of his towel too. I fled, then.” Remus admitted as Lily giggled.   
  
Sirius honestly couldn’t remember when that happened. How could he forget?  
  
“So... James...?” Lily said slowly, raising her eyebrows at Remus. The boy grinned brightly and nodded.   
  
“You wouldn’t be disappointed.”  
  
Sirius wasn’t sure how he felt about Remus talking about James’... bits like that.  
  
“Well, blunt’s gone.” Moony said as he threw the tiny part of the joint away on the stone and then Vanished it with his wand. Sirius was impressed he could still do charms like that while stoned. He knew that weed slowed down Remus’ senses and that was the only reason Sirius could sit so near them without the werewolf smelling or hearing him. 

  
The two Prefects gathered the blanket and made their way back to the Gryffindor Tower with Sirius following him under the Cloak, still thinking about everything he heard that night. It was a lot of information to process.  
  
Moony wanted to shag him.


	2. Secrets, snow and chocolate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this, I really hope you guys like it! I'd appreciate some comments, if you have time, so I know what you like and/or don't like.
> 
> I love these two idiots with all my heart and want to write them as best as I can. :)
> 
> And, I forgot to mention, this is happening in January in their 6th Year.

Sirius spent that night lying in bed, thinking about Remus and listening to him eat chocolate frogs. When he finally fell asleep, he could hear birds chirping outside and after only a few hours, he woke up to James’ horrible singing.

 He groaned in his pillow, wanting nothing more than to just stay there for the whole day. Or a week. Or a year. Unfortunately for him, James heard him and a second later, the curtains of his bed were being jerked open.

 “Good morning!” Prongs said with a toothbrush in his mouth. Sirius replied with another groan. James frowned and pulled the blankets off of his sleeping friend, which made the friend in question yell out indignantly. The bespectacled boy laughed and then ran away, as Sirius jumped out of his bed and tackled him to the floor.

 “Morning.” Peter muttered as he got up and carefully avoided his wrestling friends on the floor. Remus walked in the room from the bathroom, already dressed and observed James and Sirius, amused. He smiled at Peter and indicated the bathroom was all his, before side-stepping the couple on the floor and gathered his books.

 When Sirius noticed him, he stopped trying to punch James and stood up, leaving a very confused James on the floor. Sirius never backed out of a fight, especially if you woke him up in the morning.

 “Moony, hey. Where you going?”

 Remus turned around, looking at Sirius with raised eyebrows. “Breakfast. Y’know, like every moning.”

 Sirius chuckled, which made the werewolf’s eyebrows shoot up even more. Was he drunk? Knowing him, that would be possible.

 “I’ll join you.” The black-haired boy said, grinning and he grabbed his bookbag from the foot of his bed.

 “Sirius. You’re only wearing pajama bottoms.” Remus reminded him with a small smile and Sirius nodded, laughing.

 “Good point. Though, I’m pretty sure the ladies wouldn’t mind. Or, or guys! Some guys find me attractive you know, and I don’t mind, in fact, I, I encourage it!” he said, nodding and grinning nervously.

 Remus looked at him, confused and then looked at James, who only shrugged and Remus nodded slowly to Sirius. “Okay then... I really think you should get dressed, though.”

 

All through breakfast, Remus had the feeling that Sirius was watching him and everytime he looked at him back, he looked away and started babbling incoherently. It was all very confusing and very, very amusing. Lily seemed to notice as well, for as she passed them, she winked at Remus with a sly smirk. This, of course, made James furious and he spent the next twenty minutes interrogating Remus and accusing him of trying to ‘woo his girl’. At first, Remus found it amusing but by the time they reached dungeons for their double Potions, he was breathing very evenly and trying not to punch James in the face. The full moon was only two days away and the werewolf was always short-tempered around that time, due to the fact he was tired and it seemed like every bone in his body was hurting.

 “So, at your wedding, Lupin, will I be the guest of honour or will I even receive an invitation?”

 “For the last fucking time, Prongs, I am not trying to sleep with Lily!” Remus yelled, exasperated and the group of girls standing nearby turned around to look at him, all of them giggling. He sighed, running his hand over his face.

 When he opened his eyes again, he saw Matthew McKinnon staring at him, clearly very amused.  Remus grinned at him and felt himself be less angry. He could hear James muttering something under his breath and he sighed, turning to look at his friend to try and apologize. What he saw, though, was Sirius glaring at him.

 “I...” Remus said, staring at Sirius, confused. What was going on with him? He looked at James instead and decided to just ignore Sirius. “I’m sorry, James. I really don’t want anything with Evans.”

 Prongs nodded and was about to say something when Lily walked by, smirking.

 “I’m not really his type, you know. He prefers black hair, grey eyes and insufferable personalities.” She said cheerfully and ignored Remus’ glare. Oh, he could throttle her right there, but he knew James would probably hex him into next Monday if he tried.

 As James tried to strike up a conversation with Lily, Peter just seemed confused and Sirius was watching Remus again, making him very uncomfortable. He didn’t say anything though and Remus decided to just listen to Peter as he described his type of girls.

 During Potions, Remus felt Sirius’ gaze on him all the time, but he steadily ignored him. He had more pressing matters to worry about than whatever Sirius wanted. He was paired up with Peter and even though he was slightly better than him, Remus was still rubbish in Potions. So, he didn’t really have the luxury of being distracted, as he did his best to prevent Peter from blowing something up and as he tried to get the potion to look approximately as what they had to do.

 It didn’t work though and by the end of the lesson, both Peter and Remus were trying not to breathe as they stood by their cauldron. The potion itself was poisonous green, instead of purple and there were nasty smelling fumes coming out of it. It smelled like something would smell if you mixed smelly socks, rotten eggs and cheap cologne together and topped it with spoilt milk.

 “At least nothing blew up this time, eh.” Slughorn said with a resigned sigh when he passed their table.

 Remus could hear Snape snickering at him, but he ignored him and when Slughorn shook his head disappointedly, he wasn’t even upset. He was rubbish in Potions and he didn’t really care anymore. He passed, with Sirius and James’ help and he kept his grades in other subjects high enough so the Potions grade didn’t really matter.

 All through Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms and lunch, Sirius was insufferable. It wasn’t that he was annoying Remus with talking, as was usually the case. He was silent. He didn’t answer any of his questions, refused to look at him when Remus tried to catch his eye and spent the rest of the time glaring at him. James and Peter were as confused as Remus was and when James tried to find out why he was so angry, Sirius just muttered that he wasn’t angry and that he doesn’t know what James is talking about.

 After Arithmancy, where Remus was thankfully alone, he made his way to the Library to get books he needed for his homework before going to dinner. He wished Sirius would just tell him why he was upset with him, or stop being upset. Maybe it was Lily’s comment about his type. Remus sighed and hoped his friend didn’t pick up on that. It was hard enough to have a crush on your best friend, who would never like him back and he really didn’t need Sirius to know that.

 He never told the Marauders about his crushes, mostly because they were all boys and not girls. He had no idea how his friends would react to him being queer and he didn’t want to find out any time soon. They have already accepted him as a werewolf and as Remus saw it, that was enough of a secret for them to keep.

 Sometimes, he would imagine how they would react, though. Peter would just stare at him, no doubt imagining him kissing other boys and then he would immediately ask whether Remus wanted to kiss him. James and Sirius would no doubt be disgusted, as all they talked about was girls and boobs. And if Sirius would want to know the same thing as Peter, Remus would have to lie again... No, it was certainly best they didn’t know.

 Being in the Library calmed him down and made him forget that one of his best friends was irrationally angry at him. Gathering the books he needed made him feel better. Books made sense, at least. As he took the corner, he saw Matt sitting at a table and a smile crept on his lips.

 “Hi there.” He said softly, approaching the Ravenclaw. They made out once, in a broom closet and it was great and spontaneous, but Remus didn’t know whether Matt wanted anything else with him. In fact, he didn’t know whether he wanted anything more with Matt. Sure, he was attractive, with his black hair and blue eyes and he was smart and funny, but he wasn’t sure if he’d want to date him.

 “Remus.” Matt said, smiling up at him. “Er, I hate to ask, but I’m trying to do my Runes homework, but I can’t seem to be able to translate this...” he motioned to the parchment on the table and Remus smiled as he sat down next to him and put his books on the table. He loved translating Ancient Runes and he knew that Matt knew.

 He looked at the scroll and nodded. He had translated that last week. “You’ve got to use the La Fayette key, not the Louisanne one.” He explained and glanced at Matt, who grinned and patted him on the back.

 “Thank you! Oh, Merlin, I spent hours on this...” he said and grabbed one of the books from the pile and then listed through it enthusiastically.  “La Fayette key, genius.”

 Remus smiled and before he could say anything else, a wild Sirius appeared and stared furiously at the Ravenclaw boy. Moony looked at him with raised eyebrows, but Sirius ignored him and wagged his finger at Matt. He’d look ridiculous if he wasn’t so angry.

 “What do you think you’re doing.” He demanded, glaring at the boy. Matt glanced at him, confused and then went back to his book.

 “Translating Runes, and what are you doing?” he replied calmly.

 “Oh, you think you’re so smart, don’t you, with your – your _Runes_ and trying to seduce my best friend!” he spat at him and both Remus and Matt looked at him with raised eyebrows.

 “I wasn’t trying-“

 “Sirius...”

 “Oh please, wasn’t trying! I saw you, looking at him, you know!”

 Remus stood up, shot an apologetic glance at Matt and grabbed Sirius’ arm, trying to pull him away. Sirius let him drag him away, though he kept turning his head around to glare at the Ravenclaw. Madame Pince threw them out for causing a ruckus, as Sirius wouldn’t stop talking and they found themselves standing outside the Library in an empty corridor.

 “What the fuck is wrong with you?” yelled Remus and that prompted Sirius to start yelling again as well.

 “And you! You keep flirting with that – that _guy_  and looking at him and, and Lily!”

 “What exactly is it that you’re angry about, Sirius?” he asked him quietly, making the other boy stop shouting nonsense at him. 

They stood there in silence as Sirius tried to find the words to explain, but he couldn’t find any. He wasn’t even sure what he was angry about. He just knew he was angry. 

“Right. Well. When you decide to stop being such a baby, find me.” Remus said, getting angry himself. He didn’t want to show it though, so he just walked away.

 He didn’t remember he forgot the books on Matt’s table until he was in the Common Room and he sat down on an armchair with an angry sigh. It wasn’t a good day at all and he just wanted to sleep. Instead, he stared at the fire, thinking about Sirius and Matt and all the homework he wasn’t doing.

 After about an hour, the door opened and the Marauders came through and they sat down with Remus. Peter gave him a napkin with food wrapped in it and it was only then that Remus remembered he was supposed to go to dinner. He thanked Pete and gave him one of his chocolate frogs as thanks. Sirius was staring at the fire, pointedly not looking at Remus and he didn’t say anything, even when James tried to diffuse the tension by talking about Quidditch.

 Peter joined the debate enthusiastically, breaking James’ monologue. It was still incredibly awkward, though, especially when either of them tried to include Sirius or Remus in conversation. Remus had no knowledge about Quidditch, except for what his friends had told him, and he didn’t really feel like talking anyway; and Sirius just hummed in response to anything.

 After a while, Lily came up to them, handing Remus a few books. “Matt said you forgot them in the Library.” She said with a grin and walked away before James could recite a poem to her again.

 “Right. Homework.” Remus sighed and pulled his bag up on the couch. He sat with his legs crossed, balancing one of the books on his left leg and a piece of parchment on his right. He could feel Sirius looking at him again, but he refused to look up.

He was vaguely aware of James cracking a joke about Remus being a nerd and he smiled at the remark absent-mindedly. Next to him, Peter decided he would do his homework as well and he started on his Charms essay and it took fifteen minutes of questions for Remus to realize it was the essay they were supposed to give in a week ago. He told Peter that and received a sheepish smile in return and he told him Flitwick said he could give it in late. Even though Remus loved Peter and considered him one of his best friends, he was slightly annoyed by that. He worked so hard to keep up with everyone and to not miss out on anything during full moon and there Peter was, handing in a paper a week later without any obvious reason.

As he didn’t want to snap at his friend, he just muttered something about finishing his work in his room and walked up to the dormitories. Peter panicked a bit at this, seeing as Remus always helped him with his homework and he wanted to get a nice grade on the paper. Thankfully, James said he would help him as he shot a meaningful glance at Sirius, who was pretending he didn’t notice Remus left.

 “Go talk to him.” James said though gritted teeth, as he was tired of seeing his friends fight. He didn’t know what it was about, but he had a feeling if the two of them just _talked_ , it would all be okay. Sirius and Remus fighting was one of the most unbearable things in the Universe, he thought. (The most unbearable thing was Evans not talking to him.) Them fighting was full of passive aggressive comments, silent treatments and glaring at each other. When James and Sirius fought, they worked it out soon enough, most times with shouting matches or wrestling. When Sirius and Peter fought, Peter was smart enough to say sorry first and Sirius followed up soon enough. Peter never fought with James or Remus and James and Remus never fought either. It seemed as though Sirius was the common factor in all their fights, but James couldn’t bring himself to be angry because of that. He knew Sirius was short-tempered and that he was trying hard not to be the person his family wanted him to be and that his less-than-perfect family situation put a lot of pressure on him. He knew Sirius couldn’t help but snap at his friends from time to time and he also knew Sirius always apologized.

 Sirius nodded reluctantly and got up, walking up to their room without saying anything. He stood by the closed door for a minute, trying to think of what he’ll say. Just as he was about to open the door, the door opened and he was facing a frustrated Remus.

 “I could smell you standing here and hear your stupid breathing.” He said as an explanation.

 “My breathing’s stupid?” Sirius asked, glad that at least they were talking and not standing in silence.

"It is when you’re nervous.” Remus said and turned around to walk back in the room. Sirius took a deep breath and followed him. He still didn’t know what he wanted to say.

“Why are you angry?” Remus asked him, looking out of the window instead of him. Sirius was glad. He couldn’t deal with those brown eyes when he was trying to think.

“You didn’t tell me about Matt.” He said quietly. Remus spun around, surprise written all over his face.

“What are you-“ 

“Matthew McKinnon.” Sirius said, looking him straight in the eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you fancied him?”

“Didn’t know how you’d react.” Remus said quietly, not being able to break the eye contact even though he desperately wished to do so. Sirius knew. And he was angry.

 “I’m your best mate, Moony, how d’you think I’d react?” Sirius said, his voice raised.

 “Well, I don’t know! You keep talking about birds and how very straight you are, and you keep throwing around words like ‘ponce’. How would you react, Sirius?” Remus’ voice was raised now as well, which didn’t happen very often. He usually went for the quiet tones, the ones that cut through the air like a knife.

 Sirius took a deep breath, shaking his head. “You’re so stupid, Remus.” He breathed out and couldn’t believe his friend would even think that he’d be homophobic. He knew the man was a werewolf, for fuck’s sake and now he wouldn’t accept him just because he liked men? Please.

 Remus raised his eyebrows and looked at Sirius like he couldn’t believe his words. “Yeah? Well I’m not the one who spent the whole day sulking just because he found out his mate likes kissing boys.” He said, his voice now quiet and sharp. “Now if you’ll excuse me. Prefect duties.”

 He was out of the room before Sirius could say anything else, slamming the door behind him. Sirius sighed, frustrated and sat down on one of the beds. He made an even bigger mess of things. Why couldn’t he just say what he wanted without feeling like a stupid jerk?

If James and Peter saw how upset Remus was, they didn’t say anything. However, Sirius took James’ Invisibility Cloak and disappeared for half an hour. James and Peter thought he was sulking somewhere, but he returned with a whole bag full of Chocolate Frogs, Chocoballs, Ginger Newts, Honey Flavoured Toffees and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. He dropped the bag on Remus’s bed and put the Cloak back in James’ trunk.

 “The Full’s in a few days and he went through his stash yesterday.” He offered as an explanation and the other two didn’t ask how he knew that. Sirius always just knew, somehow, when Remus was low on chocolate.

 

...

 

The next day, Remus woke with an uncomfortable weight on his body. He opened his eyes grudgingly and saw a great black dog sleeping on top of him. Smiling, he couldn’t bring himself to be angry and he scratched Padfoot behind the ears. He could never be angry at Sirius when he was a dog and he knew Sirius knew that. It had something to do with the fact he could never quite pull off that smug face as a dog as he usually did as a human.

Padfoot woke up as well, looking up at the boy with huge eyes, seeking forgiveness. Remus smiled and nodded. Suddenly, Sirius was lying there next to him, one of his legs and arms still on Remus. The sandy-haired boy felt his heart beating fast and he forced himself not to think of the endless possibilities the situation was promising.

“I’m sorry, Moony.” Sirius muttered in his shoulder, tracing patterns on Remus’ chest. Thankfully, he was wearing an old t-shirt, otherwise, Remus was sure, he would probably melt or explode. Sirius was topless, and even though Remus was used to it, he tried very hard not to stare at the muscles there.

“So you don’t mind I’m.... that I like boys?” Remus asked quietly, because even though this probably wasn’t the best time to ask that, he needed to know. He felt Sirius shake his head and breathed out in relief.

 “I was just angry you didn’t tell me. I know you had your reasons though. And, I’m sorry about yesterday.” He was still talking to Remus’ shoulder, as he didn’t trust himself enough to look up into those gorgeous eyes...

 “Sorry. Thanks for chocolates.” Remus smiled and, despite his efforts not to do it, he raised his hand and stroked through the long black hair. He was always at ease around Sirius, even though he had a huge crush on him. There was something very comfortable about just lying there with him. It wasn’t the first time, either. Remus could remember mornings after the full moon, when he wasn’t badly injured, when he woke up and Sirius was snuggled up with him. If he was badly injured, though, Sirius would be sitting on a chair next to his bed, staring at him with concern.

Remus never thought anything of it, even though he imagined scenarios where they would kiss and Sirius would tell him that he liked him as well... He knew, though, that it would never happen and he was just glad he had a friend that cared about him that much.

He felt Sirius relax next to him and smile in his shoulder. It tickled, but Remus didn’t say anything.

He didn’t ask how much the chocolates were and if he had to pay him back. He knew Sirius most likely stole them and anyway, he didn’t have the money to pay him back. It was always like this. When they were young, Remus insisted on paying him back, but then Sirius started making up the reasons why he gave Remus chocolate. It was his birthday, it was full moon, Sirius’ Mother gave him some money to try to blackmail him – Remus knew it wasn’t true, but didn’t want to challenge his friend on that -, Remus got full marks on his DADA essay and more trivial things like that.

They stayed like that for a while and Remus’ only indication that it wasn’t breakfast time yet was that James and Peter were apparently still sleeping. He remembered, with delight, that it was Saturday and that they didn’t have to wake up early or go through a day of classes. His body hurt slightly more than yesterday and he felt a headache forming.

Next to him, Sirius was thinking about kissing Remus. It’d be so easy, he just had to raise his head, lean over and kiss him.

So easy.

Yet he couldn’t do it.

It surprised him how okay he was with thinking about kissing his friend. In fact, while he was lying awake last night, he found that he was a lot more than okay with kissing Remus. He wanted to do it very much, but even though he knew Remus wanted it as well, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Usually, he didn’t think twice about kissing anybody, because the girls he kissed didn’t really matter. He knew there would always be another girl to kiss. There wouldn’t be another Moony.

Before he could gather his courage and just fucking kiss Remus, Peter was up and he was yelling about snow.

“Snow, guys!  _Snow_ !”

Remus’ hand froze in Sirius’ hair and they looked at each other, neither of them quite sure of how to explain to their friends as to why they were in bed together. Choosing not to offer an explanation, Sirius turned into Padfoot, jumped out of the bed and barked delightedly along Peter.

If James or Peter found anything curious, they didn’t say anything about it. James knew they would tell him when they were ready and Peter was just relieved they weren’t fighting anymore.

They spent the morning outside, along with most of the other students, having snowball fights. Neither Remus or Sirius forgot about the morning and they kept looking at each other happily when they thought the other wasn’t looking.

A little after noon, Remus was exhausted and he told the others he was going to take a nap. The Full was only a day away now and all the running around, dodging snowballs made his whole body hurt. He was in a good mood though and that only increased when Sirius jumped up from his hiding spot and ran towards him.

"I’ll go with you.” A snowball hit him in the back, a courtesy of some Slytherin girl and Sirius only made an obscene gesture at her without even turning around. They walked back to the castle together, Sirius talking excitedly about something or other. Remus hummed in response, too tired to even figure out what the other boy was talking about. Sirius didn’t mind.

Lily grinned at them – well, she grinned at Remus – when they walked in the Common Room and the werewolf ignored her and just walked up to their room. She was constantly looking between him and Sirius since that talk on the Astronomy Tower and kept hinting that they should make out. She even suffered to be in James’ presence in order to get in a cheeky comment. It was drove Remus crazy and amused Sirius to no end.

When they finally got up to the room, Remus let out a groan as he loosened his tie and sat down on his bed. Sirius stood, frozen in the middle of the room and watched his friend.

“Are you... Are you okay?” he said in a hoarse voice and then forced himself to walk over to Remus’ bed. The werewolf nodded and reached in his bedside table to get out the chocolate Sirius had brought him the day before. He bit into a chocoball, closed his eyes and moaned quietly. Sirius’ mouth became dry and suddenly, he wanted nothing else than to make Remus moan like that. He watched Remus eat the chocolate and then lie on the bed, eyes closed.

He wasn’t thinking at all, when he climbed on the bed, leaned over Remus and pressed his lips to Remus’. For a few seconds, Remus was frozen and then, just as Sirius thought he made a huge mistake, he kissed him back. Wrapping his arms around Sirius’s waist, he pulled the boy down and moved his lips gently. Sirius deepened the kiss, while his brain was jumping around happily, yelling  _‘It’s finally happening!’_

They kissed for a few minutes, gently yet passionately and Remus was genuinely convinced he was dreaming. Or was dead. Could be either, really.

Sirius pulled back then, leaning on his elbows on either side of Remus, careful not to put too much weight on the boy. He caressed his cheeks and played with the sandy-coloured curls, his red lips smiling. Remus was looking in his eyes, trying to read his expression. He was unsuccessful. He kept his arms wrapped around Sirius’ hips and fought the urge to grab his butt.

“So...” he finally said, quietly and without any intentions of saying anything else. Mostly because he had no idea what to say. Sirius smiled down at him, stroking his cheek with his thumb. He hummed happily in reply.

“Do you want to sleep?” Sirius asked him gently, still playing with his hair.

“No. But I’m exhausted.” replied Remus with a small sigh. Sirius nodded and shifted so he was lying on Remus’ side, with one of his arms wrapped around his waist. He buried his face in Remus’ neck, breathing in his scent. Remus turned to lie on his side as well, with one of his arms folded under his head and the other holding Sirius close. He pressed another kiss to Sirius’ lips and then closed his eyes, falling asleep in a matter of seconds.

Sirius drew the curtains together with a flick of his wand and then started tracing patterns on Remus’ lower back until he too, fell asleep.


	3. The dark side of the moon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiii, thank you so much for commenting and kudo-ing and reading, you're all so, so wonderful <3
> 
> There's a sort of mature scene in this chapter (hint: blowjob), so if you don't like it, stop reading after the scene where Remus gets out of Hospital Wing.
> 
> I wanted to ask you guys for any and all puns about being gay that you can think of, you would help me out a lot :)
> 
> Also, the thing about gobstones (you'll see what I'm talking about, don't worry) is based on this post: http://stonedremus.tumblr.com/post/51098195693/remus-joins-the-gobstones-team-because-he-thought 
> 
> I think this is it, happy reading! <3

James and Peter stayed outside for most of the day, talking about girls, Quidditch and all the pranks they still had to try out. There was a girl Peter particularly liked, a 5th Yeah Hufflepuff called Lizzie Johnson, but he was too shy to approach her, let alone ask her out on a date. James promised to help his friend and he had to admit, Lizzie was gorgeous.

Her black hair fell on her shoulders in gentle waves, her dark skin was unbelievably beautiful and her eyes were the warmest kind of brown. When she smiled, Peter thought he would melt and her voice, even though it was authoritative, was gentle and so, so lovely. James vaguely remembered Sirius wanting to date her in their fourth year, but she turned him down, said he wasn't her type. James also remembered how incredibly pissed off Sirius was, yelling at James, outraged, that he was everyone's type and how dare she. He got over her, however, about an hour later when a year older Slytherin batted her eyelashes at him.

Coming up with the plan for Peter to talk to Lizzie took about five minutes and convincing Peter to actually do it took about half an hour. James was on the verge of hexing him three times and he wondered where on Earth Remus got the patience to tutor Peter. In the end, James approached the group of Hufflepuffs that were all sitting, huddled up on a bench by the frozen lake and introduced Peter.

They all smiled sweetly at Peter and then half of them started flirting shamelessly with James. He was flattered and ran his hand through his hair, grinning handsomely at the girls. Standing next to him, Peter experienced a familiar feeling of being forgotten and overshadowed by his smarter and more attractive friend. He thought about just leaving, surely they wouldn't miss him, not when James was there, talking about Quidditch.

"Hey, Peter, have you done Divination homework yet?" a very familiar voice said then and Peter looked up from his shoes to see Lizzie Johnson smiling at him. He opened his mouth, but no words came from it. He cleared his throat and forced himself to speak, ignoring the way the voice in his head kept screaming at him. 

"N-not yet, no. Y-you?" he managed to say and smiled in what he hoped was a cute manner and not a creepy one.

She shook her head. "Would you like to do it together? Tomorrow night, maybe?"

Peter thought he could die happy right then. He nodded happily and then shook his head, remembering what day the next day was. Lizzie looked at him, a confused smile playing on her lips and she raised her eyebrows.

"Can't tomorrow. How about today?" Peter heard himself say and then almost fell over when she nodded, smiling brightly. 

After they agreed to meet up in the Library at 7 that evening and after James told the girls that he's very sorry, but he's waiting on his one true love, Lily Evans, they walked away, back to the castle. Peter walked in a daze. He couldn't believe he had a date - study date, but who the hell even cares - with the most beautiful girl in the school. James teased him about it, but he didn't even acknowledge him and soon, James stopped. He was happy for his friend and at least this was some sort of entertainment. 

It was too late for lunch when they got back, so they walked down to the Kitchens. Their only intention was to grab some food and then go up to the Gryffindor Tower. The House Elves, however, adored the Marauders and kept bringing them food, tea, hot chocolate and they wanted to hear their stories.

James was good with stories, Peter noticed, as five of the House Elves sat down on the floor around them and listened intently to James' story about how they got lost in the Forbidden Forrest one time. And the Elves were an excellent audience; they gasped, laughed and winced at all the right times. When he looked around, Peter also noticed many of the other Elves standing about, listening to James talk. Some of them were in the middle of sweeping, drying dishes or, in one case, in the middle of whisking eggs. The boy smiled, sipped his hot chocolate and listened to his friend who was now telling the Elves about running into Moaning Myrtle in the middle of the night, naked.

When the Elves finally let them go, packed with cauldron cakes, fried chicken, sandwiches, chocolate cake and toffees, James and Peter were both almost too full to move and in a very good mood. They found the other two Marauders in their room, Remus reading and Sirius pacing up and down the room, apparently in the middle of a monologue. As he saw them and the amount of food they brought, he seemed to forget everything about what he was saying and started eating enthusiastically. Remus grimaced at him when he saw him devouring chicken, grease running down his chin.

 _'This is the man I like. God help me.'_ he thought as he helped himself to a piece of chocolate cake.

The rest of the day was spent on helping Peter get ready for his date. What surprised the boy the most was that Sirius was actually being helpful, instead of just commenting sarcastically. At a quarter to 7, Peter looked adorable and kinda sexy, he thought. He was wearing Sirius' leather jacket, magically accommodated so it fit him perfectly, jeans and a Muggle band T-Shirt that usually belonged to James. The Marauders sent him off with words of advice, James and Sirius dabbing their eyes, saying how the little ones grow up so fast.

James then turned to Remus with a bright grin. "Now we only need to get you a date. Honestly, this celibate thing you've got going can't be healthy." 

Remus blushed, tried very hard not to laugh and shrugged. "I don't know, James, I'm fine."

Narrowing his eyes, James started to explain, in great detail, how girls were absolutely amazing and on what exactly Remus was missing out on. It was only the great patience Remus prided himself on having that saved him from bursting out laughing. Well, that and the fact he avoided looking at Sirius, who was fuming.

 

...

 

Next morning, Peter told them all how incredibly and absolutely amazing and pretty Lizzie is. He was telling them about her when they were getting ready for breakfast, all through breakfast and after breakfast, when they were sitting in the Common Room. The only reason Sirius didn't yell at him was that he was worried about Remus. The werewolf tried to listen to Peter and be interested in his story, but he kept falling asleep or wincing in pain. It was full moon that day and it showed. He was paler that usual, when he moved, he moved slowly and there was a permanent frown on his face, even though he tried very hard to get rid of it. Sirius just wanted to smooth the little lines between Remus' eyebrows with his thumb and to kiss him and tell him everything would be alright.

He couldn't, though, as they had agreed the day before to not tell the others about the kiss just yet. They both agreed they needed to see where this was going before telling their friends, though it wasn't said in as many words.

 

_"Do we tell Prongs and Wormtail?" Sirius asked in between kissing him._

_"Do you want to?" Remus murmured back, his heart beating fast. He wasn't ready to share what they had just yet._

_"Not really. Our little secret?" the taller boy said, a small smile playing on his lips. He liked the idea of Remus being just his._

_"Our little secret." Remus agreed and went back to kissing the impossibly beautiful boy._

 

 

Throughout the day, Remus made them all do their homework, especially Sirius, as he had three essays to hand in the next day. Remus himself fell asleep six times as he was working on his Potions essay and the last time he did, James and Sirius took the parchment away from him and finished it. They knew more about Potions anyway. Although Remus insisted he had to do his own work, he was grateful to his friends and promised them both a chocolate frog. 

Peter couldn't really focus on his work, even less so than usual and he kept looking out of the window with a dreamy-eyed look on his face. James and Sirius knew he was thinking of Lizzie and teased him mercilessly about it. He was too happy to mind.

Some time before sunset, they woke Remus up (he fell asleep again while he was trying to write a chart for Transfiguration) and walked him down to the Hospital Wing. They left him with Madame Pomfrey, who cooed around the boy and made him as comfortable as possible.

Then, they walked out of the castle under the Invisibility Cloak, with Peter in rat form, as they were too big now for all of them to fit. They waited for Madame Pomfrey to leave the Whomping Willow and then walked down the dark tunnel to the Shack. They found Remus sitting on the floor, leaning on the wall behind him with closed eyes. Sirius and James helped him strip down and as they were used to it, there was no shame between them. Sirius didn't even try to ogle him, as seeing him weak like this only made him want to cry and hug his friend, instead of doing other things to him.

The moon came and with it the painful transformation. Soon, the wolf howled and the residents of Hogsmeade closed their windows. Nobody wanted to listen to the angry ghosts in the Shack.

Soon after, a stag galloped across the grounds of Hogwarts towards the Forrest, a rat firmly sat on his head between the antlers and they were followed by a wolf and a large dog. They guided the wolf far into the Forrest and he resented them at first, as they were guiding him away from human flesh that he craved so much, but then they distracted him and he played with them. The dog behaved especially enthusiastic that night, nipping at the wolf playfully, barking delightedly, chasing the wolf around and rolling around in the snow.

Although the animals tried to distract the wolf as best as they could, he craved flesh and when he didn't get it, he grew frustrated. Years of experience told him that he could hurt the human boy that was hiding somewhere in his mind and so he ripped at his own flesh, tearing and biting wherever he could reach. The dog and the stag didn't like this at all and the dog barked at him angrily until he stopped. Then the games began again and the wolf was distracted once again.

As the moon set, another painful transformation followed. Then, Remus was lying on the wooden floor, shaking and bleeding. The dog grew into a human boy with long black hair and he hurried to Remus, wrapping his coat around him. The only major wound seemed to be on Remus' thigh from where the wolf bit into it and then scratched at for good measure. James and Sirius put Remus on the bed and covered him with a blanket. They couldn't dress him, because then Pomfrey would know they were there and no one was stupid enough to believe they stayed with him as humans. The two boys then took their leave with one last look at the sleeping Remus and Peter stayed behind, as he could hide in his Animagus form.

 

...

 

Pain.

Pain was the first thing Remus acknowledged when he woke up. The second was that there was sun shining on his eyes, making it even more difficult to open them. The third was that someone was cuddling him. He smiled and without having to look, he knew Sirius was there. He was on his bed, so that meant the injuries weren't that bad. That was good, Remus knew. His throat felt dry and he wanted water, but he didn't want to move or open his eyes. He sighed, wishing he could just have water.

"You're up." came a quiet voice near his neck and Remus hummed in reply and then decided Sirius was a pretty sight enough to open his eyes for. 

 _'I was right.'_  he thought as he was met with a pair of gray eyes looking at him with concern. He smiled at him and got a relieved grin in return. Sirius then got out of the bed, something that Remus didn't like at all.

"Don't give me that look, I'm getting you water." Sirius laughed when he saw the hurt and longing look on Remus' face and then followed up with the promise, giving the boy a glass of water.

Remus drank it and then frowned at Sirius, remembering that it was Monday. "Why aren't you in class? I told you, no cutting for me."

"Lunchtime. James and Pete said to say hi, but they had to work on their Charms essays."

"And your Charms essay?"

"Finished it!" said Sirius proudly, sitting back on the bed. "Yesterday." he added, nodding.

Remus highly doubted that, but he liked having Sirius there, so he let it slide. The taller boy took the now empty glass to put it back on the bedside table and then took Remus' hands in his. 

"Does it hurt badly?" he asked, concern written all over his face. Remus shook his head, not really lying altogether. He had been in much worse pain, so this wasn't bad, compared to that. Sirius looked like he didn't believe him, but he heard approaching footsteps, so he stole a quick kiss and went to sit on the chair. Madame Pomfrey came in the room, carrying a tray with various potions and food on it.

"How are we, Remus?" she asked in a Motherly voice, setting the tray down over his legs. She waited for him to say 'I'm alright, thanks' before she shooed Sirius out of the room, saying it was only five minutes until his next lesson. Sirius left reluctantly and told Remus he would be back later.

"I really don't like those boys being in here at all times, disturbing you." she sighed, giving Remus a pointed look. He knew that as long as he didn't mind them there and they weren't causing him pain, she couldn't and wouldn't throw them out.

He grinned at her, shaking his head a little. "I honestly don't mind, Poppy. I like having them around."

She sighed again and then started administering his potions. She sat on the chair Sirius occupied only a few minutes before and sat with him as he ate his lunch, chattering on about the books she read. He liked Poppy and throughout the years, they bonded over their love of Muggle literature and, even though she wouldn't admit it, their love of his friends. 

 

...

 

Remus convinced his Healer to let him go back to his room that night, seeing as he wasn't badly injured and would rest more easily in his own bed. The Marauders helped him walk back to the Gryffindor Tower and as soon as he was on his bed, he reached in his drawer and pulled out a paper bag, rolling paper and a Muggle lighter. Sirius grinned and sat on his bed, taking the things from Remus and rolled him a blunt.

It was really romantic.

Or it would have been if James and Peter wouldn't have been there.

Soon after, the four boys were high and Remus was in significantly less pain. Sirius and him were lying on his bed next to each other on their stomachs, while James and Peter were playing gobstones on the floor. Nobody actually knew who was winning, even though Remus tried very hard to focus on the game. He kept being distracted by Sirius running his hands over his butt. Thankfully, both James and Peter were too focused on their game to notice.

"Pete... I don't think that's how you're supposed to play..." James said suddenly, frowning at the gobstones. Neither of them have made a move for over five minutes and were just staring at the little balls. 

"How _are_ you supposed to play?" Peter asked, leaning his head on the side. Everything was fuzzy and pleasant, but he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. 

On the bed, Sirius started laughing and he nudged Remus with his shoulder. "Remember when you joined the team?"

Remus blushed and hid his face in his hands. It was probably the most embarrassing memory of his whole life and Sirius took every chance to bring it up. When he first started smoking pot (purely for medicinal reasons, at the beginning at least), he found out that there was a club for what he thought were 'Gobstoners'. Of course, it became clear he made a horrible mistake when he went to the first meeting and found they were just rolling tiny balls around. Marauders found out and laughed for about 15 minutes straight and teased him mercilessly. 

James looked up, grinning brightly and Peter chuckled to himself. "That's right, Moony! So, what are the rules?" Prongs asked, smirking at him. Remus kept his face in his hands and he shrugged, muttering that he doesn't fucking know.

Sirius cackled, reliving the memory of finding Remus looking lost as Hell among the Gobstones team. He remembered how desperate the boy looked when he whispered _'I thought I was gonna get high. The fuck are Gobstones?'_  to him and he remembered that he actually laughed so hard he cried. It was times like that that Sirius remembered Remus' Dad didn't use magic around the house and that his Mom was a Muggle. 

As Remus waited for his friends to stop remembering that day, he reached in his chocolate stash and started munching on a few chocolate frogs. They were unbelievably good. He always believed that chocolate was better than anything in the whole world and his belief only grew stronger when he was high. He wasn't quite aware he was moaning until James threw a pillow at him.

"Thought Pads was giving you a handjob or something." he laughed and didn't notice how Sirius' eyes glinted at the idea, but he did notice that Remus almost choked on the frog.

 

...

 

"Moony."

Remus didn't look up from his book or acknowledge Sirius. It was after dinner, they were in the library and the werewolf was trying to catch up with schoolwork before he had to leave for Prefect duties. Sirius was incredibly bored, but refused to leave him to find James and Peter or _somebody_ else. It was driving Remus mad and not just because he really, really wanted to kiss him, but because he knew he had to catch up, otherwise he never would.

"Moony, I'm really bored. Pleaaaase? Reee-mus. Remuuuuussss. Remy. Rem. Remus!"

"What! Oh my god, Sirius!"

"D'you wanna kiss?" Sirius asked with a sly smile. He knew Remus wouldn't go back to studying now, as long as he held his attention for long enough. He's had year of experience but he expected it to be easier now that he could just snog him.

"We're in the Library." the werewolf pointed out and looked back down at his book. He couldn't focus, though and didn't even attempt to read, as he knew Sirius would start talking again in a second.

"Sooo? I've always wanted to make out in here."

"You have." Remus sighed, still staring at one point in his book. Maybe if he pretended he was reading, Sirius would leave him alone. Maybe he didn't want Sirius to leave him alone, but he wouldn't admit that. Thankfully, they were sitting in the back and no one seemed to be around them.

"Oh... right." Sirius said, remembering the event. He couldn't remember the girl though, no matter how much he tried. "Not with you, though." he added cheekily. When he didn't get a response, he rubbed his foot against Remus' leg under the table. watching Remus for a response. The boy tensed at first and then smiled, sighed and closed his book.

"Alright, come here.

Sirius grinned happily and went to straddle Remus' lap, wrapping his arms around the boy's neck and bringing his lips down to Remus'. Like always, Remus tasted of chocolate and cheap cigarettes and Sirius loved it all and he even loved that his lips were slightly cracked. Remus wrapped one of his arms around Sirius' back and ran the other hand through his hair. His perfect, long black hair. He could feel Sirius licking his lips and he opened them slightly, allowing tongue.

After a few minutes, Remus' legs fell asleep and he broke the kiss, chuckling embarrassedly. "You're crushing me." he said quietly, motioning down to his legs. They switched places, with Sirius sitting and Remus on his lap. As Remus looked at Sirius, with his black hair all ruffled, pink lips and flushed face from kissing, he grinned at him, thinking he was so bloody lucky. He pressed his lips back to Sirius' and then, after a few more minutes of pure heaven, he moved his lips to Sirius' perfect jaw, continuing down to his neck. 

He grazed his teeth along the sensitive skin, followed by his tongue and he smiled happily when he felt Sirius shiver under him. Oh, this would be fun. He left kisses all over the boy's neck and after he left a hickey there as well, he returned to Sirius' lips and he noted, with delight, that he was even more flushed than before. He glanced around to make sure that they were alone and went back to kissing Sirius.

"There's something _I've_ always wanted to do here." Remus muttered against the perfect lips and Sirius took a shaky breath, trying to act casual.

"Yeah?"

This was a very nice side of Remus that he hasn't seen before and he was very excited. Remus nodded, smiling and he shifted a bit, his hands traveling down to Sirius's pants and started undoing his belt.

Oh. _Oh._

Sirius shuddered as Remus ran his hand over the bulge in his slacks, smiling sweetly as he did so. Next thing he knew, Remus was on his knees between his parted legs, looking up at him with those brown eyes, seeking permission to go further. Sirius gave a jerky nod and suddenly had no idea what to do with his hands. He's gotten blowjobs before, but never from a guy and certainly never from the quiet, bookish, rule-abiding (for the most part) _Remus Lupin_.

He watched as Remus undid his belt and the zipper of his slacks and then he shifted so Remus could pull down his pants a bit for better access. He felt himself growing harder in Remus' hands and he gasped when he felt the boy's breath and lips on him. 

Remus licked the tip slowly, parted his lips and closed them around Sirius' tip, all the while watching the boy, trying not to smirk at his expression. He moved his mouth down, sucking and licking in the way he knew was sending waves of pleasure all over Sirius and the way he buried his hands in Remus' hair confirmed that. Remus bobbed his head up and down, his cheeks hollowed and Sirius' eyes fluttered close and he fought the urge to push the boy's head down.

He leaned his head back, his breathing shallow and he curled his fingers tightly around the sandy-coloured curls. Remus hummed happily and, holy fuck, Sirius almost came. He couldn't contain himself any longer and he gently pushed Remus' head down until his cock was fully in the boy's mouth. He was impressed, really, Remus didn't gag or anything, just kept on sucking. 

Bobbing his head up and down again, Remus hummed and licked and then - _oh fuck_ \- took Sirius' balls in his hand, kneading them gently. Sirius knew he had to be quiet, as he was pretty sure the school administration wouldn't be too happy about this situation, but he couldn't help but moan and hope to Merlin no one was around. Remus could feel Sirius was close and he moved his mouth way down again, so the cock was once again wholly in his mouth and he hummed, sending vibrations all over Sirius' body. 

"Fuck - Moony, I'm - I'm gonna-"

Remus started moving his mouth over the cock faster and Sirius came in his mouth, trying so very hard not to moan or scream Remus' name out loud. He kept his eyes closed, breathing fast and coming down from the orgasm. He expected Remus to move away now to clean himself, as the girls have done, but the boy remained where he was, licking Sirius clean. When he was done, he moved away, calmly zipped up Sirius' pants and did the belt.

Sirius stared at him in admiration and he pulled him up in a kiss. He could still taste himself on Remus' mouth, but he liked the way that Remus now tasted of him.

"You're really good at this." he commented after Remus stood up and started putting books away, like nothing had happened.

"I know." Remus replied with a smug smirk as he turned around to look at the disheveled Sirius. 


	4. Flourescent Adolescent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it's been a very long time, I am so incredibly sorry! But, here you go, hope you like it :)

The following week consisted of Remus obsessing either about Sirius or about telling Matt that he didn't want to pursue a relationship with him. In the end, he didn't have to do it because Matt approached him one day, looking guilty as hell and proceeded to tell him he really liked Jane Abbot. It took all of Remus' self control not to start laughing with relief right then. Instead, he told the Ravenclaw that he understood and that while he liked snogging him, he didn't really want to date him. They were both incredibly relieved and worked on their Arithmancy homework together. They liked hanging out together and Matt was a good friend, so Remus didn't see a problem with that.

Sirius, however, was incredibly jealous, accused Remus of cheating on him (even though they haven't really established what their relationship was) and then pulled him in a supply closet during dinner. They left the closet with their ties askew, rumpled hair and sloppily tucked in shirts. To make sure James and Peter didn't suspect anything, Sirius made up a story of getting it on with some 7th Year Hufflepuff and, being horny teenage boys, they bought it and listened intently for details. They were so distracted they didn't even noticed Remus was in a similar state, which fitted the werewolf perfectly.

Now that he was allowed to kiss Sirius and ogle him without having to avert his eyes, Remus' school work suffered immensely. Professor McGonagall actually gave him detention because he missed the topic of his essay entirely and then couldn't remember what they were talking about in the previous lesson. She asked him to stay behind the lesson, told him she was very concerned and told him that whatever it was that was bothering him, he could talk about it with her anytime. Remus then spent about five minutes assuring her nothing was wrong, he was just a bit distracted and promised her he would write the right essay that night. Lily waited for him outside of the classroom with her eyebrows raised. He was incredibly grateful when she didn't ask what was on his mind, but only offered to help him with homework.

He accepted the help, because he knew that if he tried doing schoolwork around the rest of the Marauders, he'd never graduate. Everything about Sirius was distracting. His laugh, the way his eyes wrinkled when he laughed - although Remus would never tell him that, knowing Sirius would hate the wrinkles -, the way his black hair fell on his eyes and the way he shook his head to get the curls away... Remus could write a book on everything that he liked about Sirius and was, actually, working on a list in his head, though he would never admit it.

In his turn, Sirius couldn't spend more than five minutes without looking at Remus and thinking inappropriate things about the werewolf. Well, he couldn't go more than a minute without the latter, but he was a teenager, what can you do. Every night, when he made sure that James and Peter were sleeping, he crept in Remus' bed and they would snog until they fell asleep. It was a bit annoying, having to wake up ridiculously early in the morning so that he went back to his bed, but they didn't want the other two boys knowing about them yet.

It was their thing for now and that's the way they liked it. Remus was only Sirius' and Sirius was only Remus'. They knew that the minute they told people about them, that the whole school would be buzzing with gossip, Pete would ask annoying questions and James would ask the inappropriate ones. Remus often joked about getting death threats from Sirius' fangirls, but he was actually concerned about that. There was a large amount of girls that wanted to be with Sirius and even though he only showed mild interest before, they still somehow thought they had a chance.

Sirius was actually working on getting the girls to fight each other and leave them alone. He spread rumours about getting together with several girls, but he didn't specify which ones and, boy, was it working. When he walked down the hall, he could see the girls staring at each other with malice and suspicion and when he was gone, he could hear them whispering urgently, trying to get each other to confess. When Remus caught up with what he was doing, he made him stop. He gave up on trying to make him apologize for things like this, so he only made him stop.

Whenever Remus would work on his homework with Lily, James was around, trying to be sneaky. His way of being 'inconspicuous' consisted of him staring at them for about five minutes, either hiding behind a bookshelf or just sitting at a nearby table, holding up a book in front of his face. Then, when he thought enough time has passed of being sneaky, he walked up to them, hitting Remus on his back in what he thought was a friendly manner and started hitting on Lily. It was highly entertaining for both Remus and Lily, although they couldn't get anything done. Lily didn't show her amusement, of course, and did her best to ignore James and when that didn't work, she answered him with sarcasm and snark.

She didn't tell anyone, but she kept all of the poems he wrote for her - they were terrible, but they made her smile - and she secretly slept with the plushie stag he once gave her. She was starting to warm up to the ridiculous man and it scared her a bit, and annoyed her to no end. She didn't tell anyone about this, though one day, she told Remus and Marlene that she would sleep with James. Just to see how it was, she said. Remus and Marlene exchanged glances at that bit of information, neither of them buying the bullshit. Afterwards, they made a pact to get those two together, because they were obviously meant to be.

...

 

"Ugh I can't think straight anymore."

Sirius snorted at Remus's words and earned himself a kick under the table, though when he looked up, the werewolf was smirking. Sirius winked at him and pointedly ignored Pete's confused looks. 

They were trying to do their homework, with emphasis on trying. It was past midnight and Remus finally gave up on his Charms essay; his head was throbbing, he couldn't focus on anything and his patience with Peter's questions was wearing thin. Sirius spent more than half the time making innuendos at Remus and the rest of it lazily writing his Transfiguration essay. Peter was surrounded by at least five open books, discarded pieces of parchment and quills that have stopped working - Sirius charmed them so they would start writing nonsense every half an hour and then spontaneously combust. The second part of the charm was still giving him trouble though, and some of the quills broke in half, some simply stopped writing and some started bouncing around. 

While his friends worked on their homework, James was across the Common Room, trying to charm Lily. So far she's hexed him five times, but that didn't deter him in any way. About ten minutes ago, the redhead sent a Silencing Charm his way and he still hasn't been able to shake it off, so he's been trying to mime his eternal love to her. It was a great source of amusement to a lot of people, including Lily, though she would never admit it.

"We should just go to bed." Sirius said, nodding with an excited smile. Peter sighed and shook his head, muttering something about McGonagall eating him alive. Remus, however, hummed in agreement, closed his books, rolled up his parchment and wished Pete good luck.

Leaving Peter and James in the common room, they made their way up to their room, hoping to every deity that their friends would't follow them soon. While they always casted Silencing Charms when they snogged in Remus' bed at night, it still felt awkward with the other two boys in the room. Sirius claimed it was exciting until Remus put the mental image of Peter walking in on them in his head. Remus laughed at his expressions for about five minutes straight.

Once safely in the room, Sirius locked the door and then approached Remus with a predatory look on his face. He tucked his finger in Remus' belt, pulling the boy closer, before kissing him. Remus happily kissed him back and for a few minutes they just enjoyed the slow, yet passionate kisses. It was just the two of them, together and it was perfect. 

Of course, they were also two very horny teenage boys, so things got heated fast. Five minutes later saw them on Sirius' bed, a topless Sirius lying on top of Remus, struggling to get his shirt off as well. He finally achieved his goal and took in the beautiful boy. There were scars lining his chest and while Remus was self-conscious about them, Sirius thought they were the most beautiful things in the entire world. They proved how incredibly brave the Gryffindor was and they always reminded Sirius that his friend could easily be a horrible person, yet he was kind and patient. He traced every one of them with his mouth, placing gentle kisses on them and all in all, trying to be romantic, but Remus had other plans. They can be romantic later, now he just wanted to get off and they couldn't know when James and Pete would come up.

Remus yanked gently on Sirius' hair, bringing his lips back to his and kissed him passionately. Sirius hummed in agreement, rearranged himself so he was sort of straddling Remus and then reached down to unbuckle their pants. Remus helped him in between kisses and soon, they were both naked, their clothes lying either on the bed or in close proximity. Sirius took both their cocks in his hand, making the boy beneath him moan out in pleasure. The animagus liked it when Remus made such noises and he grinned enthusiastically before he started pumping his hand. This lead to more of the beautiful moans and Sirius pressed his lips to Remus' neck, sucking on it and grazing the skin with his teeth. It drove the werewolf absolutely crazy and he moved his hips along Sirius's hand and he wasn't even trying to stay quiet now. Sirius sped up the rhythm and moaned against Remus' neck.

The boys were both pretty much in heaven, Remus was writhing beneath Sirius and they could both feel they were close to coming. Remus' hands were roaming all over Sirius' body, groping his perfect ass most of the time and Sirius moved from the boy's neck to his lips once again, swallowing both of their moaning. Sirius ran his thumb over the heads of the cocks while he was kissing Remus roughly and it was that that drove the werewolf over the edge. He came while kissing Sirius and moaning in his mouth and Sirius followed a few seconds later.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, Sirius lying on top of Remus, their stomachs and Sirius' hand were sticky, but neither of them minded. Remus wrapped his arms around the boy on top of him and closed his eyes, while Sirius buried his face in his neck. They could stay like that forever, entangled in each other, breathing rapidly and so happy, but they knew Pete and James would be coming up soon. Needless to say, they didn't really want to be caught like that, so after a few moments of blessed silence, Remus made a humming noise.

When that did nothing, he gently pushed Sirius off of him. "We should clean up." he said quietly, gazing up into the disheveled, yet incredibly handsome boy. The boy in question nodded as he played with Remus' hair.

"Probably, yeah. Wanna take a shower?"

"Together?" Remus asked, quirking an eyebrow. 

Sirius nodded with a devilish grin and Remus was about to reply when they heard Prongs' voice outside.

"-just threw an egg at me! Where did she even get an egg?" he was yelling, outraged. 

"Fuck." Remus said as Sirius practically jumped off of him, looking for his wand. Remus started to collect their clothes and suddenly felt the sticky liquid on his stomach disappear. He nodded gratefully to Sirius, who was already trying to pull on his pajama pants as quickly as possible. The doorknob rattled, but the door didn't open, much to James' further frustration. 

Remus sent a panicked look to Sirius. The room smelt of sex, their clothes were still all over the place and those that weren't were being clutched desperately by Remus. Sirius grimaced in desperation and lunged for his trunk, pulling out a can of antiperspirant. He sprayed it quickly, while Remus hurried to pick up all of their clothes, tossing them all in Sirius' open trunk and then, when Sirius was finished and was lounging nonchalantly on his bed, Remus went to open the door. 

"Wait! Moony, you're still naked!" Sirius whispered and tried very hard not to laugh. Remus, with his hand on the doorknob, let out a distressed noise and Sirius threw him his boxers. 

"What the fuck's going on?" James yelled and rattled the doorknob again.

"Just a second, it's stuck!" Remus yelled back, pulling on trousers that Sirius tossed him and put a towel around his neck. He took a deep breath and unlocked the door, revealing James and Peter. James' hair was covered in what looked like an egg and he looked murderous. 

"What-"

"Evans." Pete supplied, suppressing a giggle as James stomped in the room, yanking a towel out of his trunk.

"Why does it smell like a men's locker room in here?" Prongs asked angrily, shooting frustrated looks at Sirius and Remus. 

Sirius shrugged, still staring at the egg that was now dripping on James' face. "Didn't feel like taking a shower, so I took a Sirius Shower."

"Emptying a can of deodorant on yourself?" Pete asked, also looking for his towel. He wasn't covered in egg, but he still wanted a shower. Like a normal human being. Sirius nodded cheerfully and James snorted.

"You're disgusting."

"Says the man with egg yolk on his glasses."

The only response he got was the slamming of the door. The rest of the boys snickered, but Remus looked a bit confused and he sent a worrying glance to Pete.

"He usually likes it when he gets a response out of Lily." he stated and Pete nodded, biting his lip. "Why's he angry?"

"Well... Evans yelled at him again, called him a "'dreadful piece of shit that not even a troll would deem good enough to sniff'" Pete said, cringing and imitating quote marks in the air. Both Sirius and Remus cringed as well. It was one of Lily's better and crueler insults and they knew James really cared about what the girl thought of him. The last time he was in such a mood, Sirius thought it would be a good idea to scare the fuck out of Snape and told him to go down to the Willlow on a full moon.

Now, _that_ did not go well at all. Remus didn't talk to Sirius for about a month, Snape got even worse, threatening to expose the werewolf all the time (until Dumbledore told him to shut his trap unless he wanted to be expelled. Not in so many words, but Sirius liked to think it went down exactly like that.), Pete was a nervous wreck because he didn't know whose side to choose and James was brooding all the time.

When Remus finally forgave Sirius, they agreed that they would plan all the pranks together, because Sirius apparently doesn't know what's funny and what's cruel. He wanted to argue that he _did_ know the difference, thank you very much, he just didn't think things through and he didn't think there'd be consequences for Remus as well as Snape. He didn't say any of that, though, because something told him that he would just mess everything up again and he was so, so happy to have his friends back again. 

They tried not to think about that much.

 

...

 

 

When Remus woke up next morning, the room was empty and the rest of the boys were nowhere to be seen, or heard for that matter. He sat up in his bed frantically, grabbing his alarm clock and, when he saw the time, yelped and jumped out of the bed. Well, he tried. His legs got tangled in the sheets and he fell, face down on the floor, with one of his legs still on the bed and the other at an awkward angle.

He closed his eyes and his shoulders shook with silent laughter. He could just imagine what Sirius would have to say.

'Not even awake for five minutes and you manage to hurt yourself! Unbelievable, Moony! It's got to be some kind of a record...' 

Slowly, Remus untangled his leg from the sheets, stood up and then hurried to get dressed. After putting on his shirt, tie and trousers, he put on the first jumper he saw, hurried to brush his teeth and ran down to the Great Hall. He knew his hair must be a disaster, but he really didn't have time to care about that. It was ten minutes till the end of breakfast and he needed his coffee.

As he was running down the corridor, already panting and catching his breath, suddenly a foot came out of nowhere and tripped him. He fell down with a flourish, waving his arms frantically and making a weird, loud noise. The stone floor grazed him and he winced at the pain. The contents of his bag spilled everywhere and he groaned. His ink bottle broke, if the sound of breaking glass was anything to go by. It was the second time he fell over in like ten minutes. This time, however, he wasn't amused in the slightest. He knew, just knew that Slytherins were behind this.

True enough, two figured emerged from the shadows, wearing dark green colours. Remus looked up, glaring and hurried to get back on his feet. It was never a good idea to stay down while ill-wishing Slytherins were about. 

"Well, well, if it isn't the ickle Prefect." drawled the first figure as Remus was struggling to stand up and he cringed. It was Regulus. The other boy - surprise, surprise - was Snape. Remus glared at them both as he straightened up and tried to remember where he put his wand. There was a flicker of surprise on the younger Black brother's face and then it turned into a sneer.

"Think you're good enough to wear that, huh?"

Remus rolled his eyes. It wasn't the first time somebody - especially Regulus - tried to offend him by questioning his fashion choices. The insults were usually about how ragged he looked, though. The younger boy then pushed him, actually physically pushed him and Remus was so surprised at the lack of use of magic, that he staggered behind, looking at the boy in surprise. He was still spewing insults, but Remus wasn't listening anymore. He calmly smiled and he saw, with pleasure, how worried that made Snape look.

"While it was lovely running into you, you have assaulted me and I'm afraid that's very much against the rules. 20 points from Slytherin." he told them calmly, relishing in the way Regulus' eyes went wide, before he resumed control over his face. Snape didn't react apart from narrowing his eyes.

Remus found his wand, waved it and his quills, parchments and books flew back into his bag. His ink bottle had indeed broken and while Remus was immensely irritated about that, he didn't want to show it. He just vanished the spilled ink and the broken bottle and hoped that the other Marauders would let him borrow theirs.

"Good day." he said pleasantly, swung his bag on his shoulder and walked away.

"You won't get away with this, you sick little pouf!" he heard Regulus yell behind him and it took all of his self control not to turn around and punch him. He forced himself to walk away. He knew he'd be late for breakfast, but he didn't want to give the Slytherins the satisfaction of running away from them. He told himself he didn't care about the insult, like he told himself every time someone called him something like that. It didn't matter what the Slytherins thought of him.

He knew who he was and he wasn't ashamed of it. When he realized he was gay, he was actually relieved. He knew he could never have children, as he would pass on some part of being a werewolf, he was sure of it. This way, he wouldn't have biological children anyway, so there was no need to worry about it.

Besides, he's been making out with Regulus' brother. He grinned and walked towards the Great Hall.

The corridors were full of people going to their classes and Remus groaned. He had missed breakfast. Maybe there'd be time between Transfiguration and Potions to run down to the kitchens and get a cup of coffee. He wasn't sure he could endure double Potions without any caffeine. It wasn't just that he was bad at the subject, it was the way Slughorn droned on and on and kept dropping names and making himself seem more important than he actually was.

"Moony!" He turned around to where he thought he heard James and he breathed with relief when he saw his best friends. Pete was holding a scone, Sirius a cup of coffee and James a piece of buttered toast. They gave him the food when he reached them and he gulped down the coffee. He knew McGonagall would never tolerate him eating and drinking during her class. 

"What are you wearing?" Pete asked, his eyebrows drawn together. 

"Wha'?" Remus asked, his mouth now full, as he had started on the scone. He looked down and flushed furiously. He was wearing one of Sirius' jumpers, with the Black crest engraved on it. No wonder Regulus overreacted. He could hear Sirius and James laugh and he looked up apologetically.

"I was hurrying, sorry. I'm full, does anyone want this?" he said, once he had swallowed. Sirius waved his apology away and took the offered piece of toast. "Why didn't you wake me up?" Remus asked as they made their way to the Transfiguration classroom. 

"We thought you needed sleep. Sirius said you looked adorable and I couldn't have agreed more." James nodded earnestly and luckily, Lily walked by right then, so he didn't notice the way Remus choked on his scone. "Wait! Why do you have an ink stain on your trousers?" he asked when Lily was out of his sight and he had time to focus on other things.

Remus groaned and turned his head around in an attempt to see the stain. It was spread all over the back of his left thigh. "I fell." he said after some hesitation and looked for his wand once again. He knew they wouldn't believe him, but he hoped they would let it go just this once.  

"You fell?" Sirius repeated slowly. Remus groaned on the inside. "You fell, just like that. And you didn't know your ink had spilled on your trousers. You fell, on your own."

"Yes, okay, I was hurrying and I tripped and I fell." Remus said irritably. 

"You tripped on what?" James asked, staring at his friend with narrowed eyes. Remus mumbled something incoherent. "Oh let me do it." James batted away Remus' hand and vanished the ink stain.

"Slytherins?" Pete asked, drawing his eyebrows together once again. "Was it Snape?" he whispered and glared at the boy in question as they passed him. Snape glared back, but he didn't do anything. Slytherins had History of Magic with the Ravenclaws for the first lesson and Remus was incredibly grateful for that. He didn't feel like sharing a classroom with Snape at the moment. 

He nodded reluctantly. The Marauders loved blaming Snape; they'd be satisfied with the answer and wouldn't press on. He really didn't want to tell Sirius that Regulus was involved. The brothers hadn't been on good terms every since their third year, when Regulus sided with their parents in an argument. Sirius never told his friends what the argument was about and they could only guess.

"What did you do?" James asked and Remus told him he took 20 points from Slytherin and walked away. Sirius frowned and looked thoughtfully at Remus. He cursed his friend and his brain in his mind.

"20 points. That's a bit much for one person. I mean, I would've ducked a hundred, but it's not like you to do that. You usually take 10 per person. Who was with him?" he demanded. Remus was conflicted between being impressed at how well Sirius knew him and being irritated that he couldn't just let it go. He mumbled something unintelligible again, but Sirius shook his head, his demanding stare never leaving Remus.

"McNair? Goyle? Why do you want to protect them? Oh..." Remus winced as he saw realization on Sirius's face. "I'll kill him." he snarled and turned around violently to look for his brother. Thankfully, he was nowhere to be seen. Remus took a hold of his arm and repressed the urge to roll his eyes. Always so dramatic.

"What? Who was it?" Peter asked, confused, his eyes darting from Sirius to Remus and then to James, who was scowling angrily. He had caught up, as well. Before they could explain it to Peter, the door of the classroom opened and McGonagall ushered them in.

They took their usual seats and didn't resume their conversation until they were working on conjuring up birds. The task itself was incredibly difficult and Remus was having trouble concentrating as James and Sirius whispered furiously behind him. Pete was sitting next to him and he was turned around, listening to his two friends. Remus was decided that he would conjure up birds in that lesson and not be pulled into the planning of a prank, which was apparently what Sirius and James were doing.

Lily was seated a few seats away from them and she sent the boys irritated looks every so often. Apparently, she couldn't concentrate either. James was so caught up in 'avenging Remus' honor', as he called it, that he didn't even notice her looking at him. Though Remus wasn't sure what his reaction would be, if he knew. He was in a better mood than last night, but the werewolf wasn't sure whether he forgave Lily for the comments or if he was still hurt.

Remus was a bit worried about the plan, as he heard the words 'cockroaches', ''snakes' and 'tarantulas' multiple times. Perhaps he could knock some sense into the boys and convince them, at least, not to use tarantulas. Mostly because they were hard to get by and Remus certainly didn't want to fill out any forms for ordering them. Well, that and the moral thing, of course.

McGonagall shushed them at least three times, but Sirius and James weren't affected in the least. Peter, who was scared shitless of the Professor, turned back around to his table and tried, in vain, to conjure birds from thin air.

At the end of the lesson, fifteen points have been taken from Gryffindor, Remus and Lily were thoroughly irritated, a plan was forming and nobody was able to do the task successfully. Alice had managed to conjure up feathers and a beak, Lily had sent a furious shower of yellow feathers over to James and Sirius, Peter managed to singe his desk somehow and a girl from Ravenclaw, Rose, conjured up bird feet. It was a disturbing sight and she vanished them immediately, even though McGonagall awarded her with a rare smile.

" _Because,_ Wormtail, we can't just target the two of them, it'd be too obvious it was us!" Sirius said heatedly as they walked down the corridor and sent an annoyed glance at Peter.

"Besides, it's way more fun to prank all of them, isn't it." James added and ruffled his hair once again. A few yellow feathers fell down and he smiled at them. Remus could only guess what was going on through his mind. 

They were walking down to the dungeons for Potions, where he knew Snape would be waiting for them. Remus sighed, wanting this day to end already. Sirius and James kept on planning the prank, but Remus was only listening half-heartedly, only to make sure they wouldn't seriously harm anyone. He was also trying to explain to Pete how it's possible to conjure up birds from thin air. He wasn't doing a very good job, as he didn't really understand it himself.

There were only ten of the students. Two Slytherins; Snape and Mavis Goyle, five Gryffindors; the Marauders and Lily, two Hufflepuffs; Alice and Jack, and one Ravenclaw, Violet Patil. Sirius and James sat together, as did Peter and Remus, Lily sat with Alice, Jack with Violet and Snape with Mavis. They were working on a complicated potion again and Remus didn't feel like even trying. He still had no idea how both him and Pete got good enough grades to go to NEWT Level in Potions and he wished James hadn't talked him into taking the subject.

 

"Miss Evans, dear me! You certainly have a good hand in Potions, eh!" Slughorn said, grinning excitedly at Lily. She looked up distractedly, smiled politely and then went back to carefully adding dried up fairy wings to her and Alice's cauldron. The Professor didn't even acknowledge the other girl and he simply moved on to Jack and Violet. Remus looked wistfully at Lily and Alice's cauldron, where he could see the lilac potion bubbling happily, like it was supposed to. Looking back at his own cauldron, he grimaced and hoped that they could, at least, get rid of the foul smell.

"Psst, Moony!" Sirius whispered from behind him. Remus ignored him and just kept on slicing the ginger roots. The whispering and hissing continued until the werewolf was finally distracted enough to become careless and cut himself. He gasped, cursed under his breath and then sucked on his thumb.

"What." he turned around, glaring at the two boys. They didn't seem too concerned about his wound, though, and just grinned at him.

"Go and grab a bottle or two of armadillo bile, will you." James said, as if this request was a perfectly normal one. Remus raised his eyebrows and, despite knowing it was a huge mistake and that he was much better off not knowing, he asked; "Why?"

"All shall be revealed, my friend. All shall be revealed." Sirius said, in what he clearly thought was a mysterious tone.

Remus sighed. He wanted to say no, to not be dragged in their schemes, but he knew they'd bug him until he would, eventually, give in. If he just did it now, then maybe they'd leave him alone for the rest of the lesson. Well, he knew they wouldn't, but a boy can dream.

"Why don't you go get it?" he whispered in one last attempt to be spared.

"We've got other things to do. Besides, your potion's fucked as it is." James whispered back, nodding to the cauldron behind Remus. It was now smelling very strongly of months old socks mixed with weeks old curry. Pete was staring at it sadly. Remus' shoulders sagged and he walked towards the cupboard after he made sure Slughorn was busy praising Snape.

"- wonderful idea, my boy! So innovative, so practical! All you did was add mint leaves, huh? Simply marvelous..."

Remus rolled his eyes and tried not to think what the Professor would say at the state of his Potion. He opened the cupboard as quietly as possible, located Armadillo Bile and took two dusty bottles from the back. That way, Slughorn wouldn't notice right away. Or at least that's what Remus hoped for.

Carefully, he held the bottles so they were concealed by his robes and walked briskly back to his table. The only one who saw him was Lily, who raised her eyebrow at him. He shook his head in response, rolling his eyes. She nodded in silent understanding and her eyes darted to James and Sirius. Remus sighed once again. Lily suspected something now and he knew she wouldn't back off until he told her at least a tenth of their plan. She wanted to make sure that nobody really got hurt during their pranks and no matter how many times he told her he did that, she insisted.

He put the bottles on James' table with a filthy glare. That didn't last though, as both James and Sirius grinned at him and dramatically praised his work. They were idiots, yes, but they were idiots who wanted to be his friends.

"Honestly, it's the most majestic way I have ever seen anybody carry two bottles! Moony, you're a natural, truly!" James whispered as Sirius held his hand up to his chest and wiped his non-existent tears with the other.

"We couldn't be more proud of you, darling Remus." Sirius half sobbed and James nodded fervently as he slipped the bottles in his bag. Remus rolled his eyes, but he was grinning.

By the end of the double lesson, James and Sirius had a plan and a semi-good potion, while Remus and Peter were standing three feet away from their cauldron, from which scalding jets of scarlet fluid were shooting up and the smell had been intensified. Slughorn only regarded them with a weary look before he moved on. Lily and Snape were the only ones in the class that Slughorn praised, completely ignoring that they both had partners.

At Herbology, James and Sirius shared their plan quietly as they were picking Exploding Raspberry Bushes. Pete's eyes twinkled in excitement, mirroring James and Sirius, but Remus got more worried with each sentence. They could get in a lot of trouble if McGonagall found out they were behind this and Remus really didn't fancy another detention with her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so not good at writing smut and I apologize.


	5. No place I'd rather be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's tough being Lily. It really is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To make up for lack of updating, have a (semi) long chapter, written from Lily's perspective. For every comment/kudos, Lily gets a new poem from James and puts it in a special notebook.
> 
> I may even write the godawful poems.

"When did Belinda the Brave die?" Lily asked, frowning at her textbook. She heard Alice list through her books, sighing. They've been working on their History of Magic essays in the library for about two hours now. It was tedious and boring.

"No idea. She was burned at the stake at least six bloody times, but it doesn't say when she actually died." Alice muttered, frustrated. "Maybe we can just skip over her death? I mean, the work she did was far more important..." she said, bookmarking a few places in the book with colourful slips of paper. Lily hummed in agreement and then the corners of her lips twitched in amusement.

"Maybe she's still alive, under a different name."

"Bet it's McGonagall." Alice commented with an excited grin.

Lily chuckled and made a note. "Should we add that in? Binns won't actually read it, anyway." The Hufflepuff nodded excitedly.

Over the years, the two girls had figured out that their ghost Professor couldn't care less about what they wrote in their essays, as long as they wrote something. They exploited that with great relish and made up obscure facts along with actually researching. The research was only so that they wouldn't have to study their asses off for exams.

They spent a few minutes in silence, both writing down semi-plausible ways for McGonagall to be the great witch of the fourteenth century who helped women in any and every way she could. Belinda the Brave was, in fact, an interesting subject, something that was very rare in History of Magic essays, but that didn't mean it couldn't be even more interesting. Lily noted, with great amusement, that Belinda lived with five cats and was a cheerful lady who was often seen gallivanting the streets, drunk. That certainly was something she wanted to see McGonagall do.

"D'you think it'd be fun, being burnt at the stake?" Alice said thoughtfully, biting the end of her quill. Lily raised her eyebrows at her friend. "Using that spell they used, of course. I don't actually want to be burnt alive, Lils." the blonde laughed, shaking her head.

"We can try next Halloween." Lily said, grinning. "Get Hagrid to set it up, like a bonfire and then we burn you alive."

"You're such a good friend."

"I try."

A group of Hufflepuff girls then came chattering happily and sat down to a table next to Alice and Lily's. They all greeted them cheerfully and then settled down to quiet giggles as they started on the homework. That's what Lily liked about Hufflepuffs. They weren't always nice and polite (Alice has had her fair share of hurtful comments -she apologized for them immediately, but still- and shouting matches), but they saw the world as a good place whenever it was possible. There they were, 5th Years who were swamped with homework and O.W.L. studies and they remained cheerful. If any of them lost the will to study, they tried to cheer their friend on, or declare that it was high time for a break and they went for ice cream in the kitchens. 

They were loyal to each other and if anyone offended them, they fought tooth and nail. And they always, _always_ somehow had ice cream. Now, Lily loved her House and she was proud to be a Gryffindor, but sometimes she envied Alice her adorable Common Room and the pleasant people in Hufflepuff. While she got the stuck up Sirius Black and the ever-annoying James Potter, Alice had the lovely Elysia and Nick, who were always happy to help.

A cough brought Lily back to Earth and, with a slight blush, she realized she's been staring at the girls for some time now. She shook her head and looked up to Lizzie Johnson, who was standing at their table.

"Sorry, was lost in thought." she said and waved her hand vaguely.

"No, it's not that." Lizzie chuckled and then blushed furiously. Alice looked up from her notes as well, a curious smile playing on her lips. The other Hufflepuff girls were all watching intently and an occasional giggle broke through.

"I was wondering... You're from Gryffindor, right." It wasn't a question, but Lily nodded nonetheless and tried not to think of the worst. If this was another person asking her if she's ever seen Sirius Black naked...

"So you know the Marauders." Lily groaned on the inside and fought the urge to scream for five minutes straight. Instead, she scoffed and rolled her eyes. 

"Such a stupid name." she muttered, even though she thought it was rather clever. Remus had told her Potter had come up with it and she wouldn't be caught dead saying something he came up with was clever.

"Right, well, I was wondering, do you know Peter well?" Lizzie went on, ignoring Lily's comment. Her blush got worse, then and it was all Lily could do not to gasp in surprise. No one has ever asked her about Peter. Suddenly, she felt a rush of affection towards the younger girl. 

She gave a half-shrug, a half-nod. "I know he's quiet, he's sweet and he works hard. He loves his friends, though God knows why." Lizzie nodded along and a delighted smile spread across her face. Apparently, it was exactly the information she was looking for. 

"Could you - Would you find out if he likes me?" Lizzie whispered and it seemed the mere thought horrified her. Lily had to bite her tongue before answering.

"I think it'd be better if you asked him yourself, Lizzie." she said kindly. "More personal, you know."

Lizzie looked disappointed, scared and excited all at the same time. Lily almost felt sorry for her, but she was certain Peter would like the Hufflepuff and would immediately go on a date with her if she asked.

 

...

 

"Sorry - fuck - sorry I'm late!" Remus yelled and tripped over the last step of the staircase. It was Lily and Remus' turn to make Prefect rounds and Lily has been waiting for him for ten minutes. She didn't mind though and spent the time re-reading her Mother's letter. Apparently, Petunia got a new boyfriend and their Mum thoroughly disapproved.

_'...He's a conceited, prudish snob. Oh, you should see him, Lily, he thinks he's the King of England. He kept going on about his marvelous new position at some company. I didn't remember where exactly it is that he's working at, but it was something very dull. 'Tunia adores him, of course, looks at him like he's a rock star._

_The dinner was a sad, boring affair and I wished your Dad was there. He'd know to ask all the right questions, embarrass him in a covert way and then Petunia wouldn't like him anymore. Perhaps you could talk some sense into her, dear. I only wish for you two girls to have a happy, fulfilled life and I honestly can't see her being happy with that man. Of course, it's her decision to make, but I don't want her to throw her life away just because she thinks it would annoy me._

_Oh, he is so unpleasant, I cannot even put it in words. He asked about you, when he saw our family pictures and I told him you were at a boarding school. He made a face like he smelt something disgusting and demanded to know why you got better treatment that 'Tunia. Honestly. We sent you both to the best schools Britain has to offer, we gave you equal opportunities and we did everything in our power to make sure your sister got a proper education. It wasn't my fault that she didn't she didn't want to go to college. I don't want anyone saying I don't love my daughters equally just because one of them is a witch._

_I do wish you'd get along better, though. You're both so smart and lovely, yet so stubborn. I know it's hard, darling, but please, would you talk to her about this Vernon? I don't want him turning her into a snob like himself and she can do so much better._

_Hope everything's well and that you're having a nice second term. Study hard, my dear girl and send my best to Remus. I'm making cupcakes next week and I'll send some for both of you._

_Love, Mum'_

Lily focused on the parts where her Mum dissed Petunia's boyfriend and didn't want to dwell on the part where she says she misses Dad. He had died two years ago, in a car crash. Lily had grown accustomed to only having one parent, though she missed her Dad horribly. She went to the graveyard whenever she had time, to tell him about her and Petunia's life, about Mum, about Remus and Marlene. About James. She was safe at the graveyard, after all, and it wasn't like her Dad would tell anyone that the daft bugger has had any positive impact on her life.

Her Dad's death was the worst on her Mum, of course. Lily thought it was a good sign that she was able to mention Dad, or the fact that he's not there, so casually. It was hard to tell by a letter, whether her Mum was actually casual about it, or if there was still a note of bitterness there, but Lily liked to think that the sadness wasn't there anymore. She hated seeing her Mum cry and be sad.

Secretly, she had been working on getting her Mum to start dating again. It would do her good, Lily thought, to get back out there. Take her mind off the fact that her husband was dead. When she mentioned that plan to Petunia, her sister only screwed up her nose and said 'Mum can't just start dating again. It's disrespectful to Daddy.' It was ridiculous, of course. Lily knew her Dad would like his wife to be happy and if that meant dating, then so be it. Anyway, Lily had a list of backup plans, if dating wouldn't help her Mum. She wouldn't just give up on her Mum's happiness because one thing wouldn't work.

Thinking of Petunia... She couldn't wait till she met 'this Vernon', as her Mum put it. He sounded truly horrible and it would probably be a lot of fun arguing with him and teasing him. Lily didn't quite agree with her Mum about Petunia being lovely, but she would never tell her that. She knew their Mum loved them both loads and that she simply refused to see the bad side of either of her daughters.

The girl now folded the letter, tucked it in her pocket and grinned at Remus, who was now scrubbing at his knees. "It's alright, as long as you showed up. Mum sends her best."

"Aw, thanks. Tell Carol I miss her terribly and can't wait to taste her cooking again." the boy smiled brightly.

He had visited Lily for the Easter holidays last year, when his own parents went to France for a long-deserved holiday. He loved spending time there, even though he was closer to Snape than was desirable. Mrs Evans, who quickly demanded that Remus call her Carol, was easy to joke with, she could hold long, intelligent conversations and she loved chocolate almost as much as Remus. She totally made up for the fact that Petunia glared at him all the time and spewed insults at him whenever she was able to. 

She had thought Remus was dating Lily, though and it was absolutely hilarious. She kept trying to walk in on them and catch them at inopportune moments. They played along for fun, obviously. Lily thought they traumatized her for life one day, when they pretended to have sex when they knew she was listening at the door. There was lots of moaning, jumping on the bed, thumping on the wall and, after they heard Petunia run away, lots of helpless giggling. The best part was, Lily knew Petunia was bursting to tell on them to their Mum, but then she would have to admit to listening in on them. It was amazing.

"She's sending cupcakes next week." The redhead told him cheerfully as they set to walk around the castle. He grinned and nodded approvingly. Carol was an amazing mother. "Petunia's got a new boyfriend." Lily went on and there was a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Oh? What happened to the last one?"

Lily snorted and shook her head. "She said they didn't have the same values. Though Mum told me 'Tunia wanted a ridiculously expensive necklace for Christmas and from what Mum gathered, he told her he didn't have the money to buy it.

"So she dumped him?" Remus asked incredulously. He never liked Petunia much, but that seemed like a whole new level of bitchiness. Lily nodded, rolling her eyes. 

"This one's unbearable, apparently. Mum had to have dinner with them, God help her. Said he was pompous as fuck and that 'Tunia adored him. I just hope it doesn't last long, I don't really want to spend Christmas dinners with the Snobbiest&Bitchiest Couple in existence." Lily sighed. She didn't get along well with her sister, but she still wanted her to have a good life. She still secretly hoped that Petunia would grow into a pleasant, reasonable person and that they could at least be civil towards one another. She may not like her sister, but she still loved her.

"Speaking of young love," Lily said, mostly to distract herself and Remus narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "I know of a certain Hufflepuff who wants to get into Pettigrew's pants." She definitely saw Remus breathe out in relief and relax, before he laughed. He had a secret and Lily wanted to know what it was. She'd get it out of him.

"Lizzie, right?" he asked as they turned a corner. "They had a study date the other night. Poor lad was a nervous wreck, not that I blame him." Lily hummed happily, smiling. She liked Peter, though she didn't really know him. He was sweet and though he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, or the bravest, he worked hard to catch up with his friends. And he asked for help when he needed it, which is something Lily thought was brave in its own way.

"She's... good, right? I mean, she's nice and she won't break his heart?" Remus asked tentatively. He was a bit concerned for his ratty friend. He often got his expectations high and then, when things didn't work out exactly as he wanted them to, he hit the ground with a sickening crash. Remus was left to deal with him then, while James and Sirius went to sneak into Hogsmeade for Butterbeer. 

Lily shook her head. "I think she really likes him and she's a lovely person. If any heartbreaking happens, it won't be intentional."

Remus, satisfied with the answer, then asked Lily what books she has read lately. It was very obvious to her that he was desperately trying to change the subject and she divulged him for the time being. She would get to his secret sooner or later.

 

...

 

 

Next day at breakfast, when Lily passed by the four Gryffindor boys, she expected Potter to turn around and annoy her again. In fact, she had thought of a few snarky responses in advance. It didn't happen, though. They were all talking animatedly, not really listening to each other. Black and Potter were the loudest, obviously and Potter kept waving his arms around, probably trying to prove a point. Remus was rolling his eyes, clutching his cup of coffee and saying 'not a chance in hell' every so often and Pettigrew was trying to voice his thoughts, though it was practically impossible to get a word in.

Lily was not disappointed by the lack of attention, obviously. Not at all. She was definitely not looking forward to hearing another one of Potter's terrible poems, what are you talking about. 

She saw Marlene sitting s few seats away from the boys and she smiled at the older girl, taking a seat opposite her. Marlene was the one who taught her how to kiss, how to make McGonagall less mad, how to survive Binns' lessons without falling in a comatose-like state and overall, she was a really good friend. Lily never thought of her as a girlfriend or anything like that, they were just really good friends who kissed sometimes. It was the perfect relationship.

"Hey, Lils."

"Morning, Len. Is there any coffee left?"

"Mhmmm. Only a little though, Lupin drank, like, three cups already."

Lily chuckled and looked over to Remus, who was now waving his arms and whispering something urgently. She sincerely hoped they weren't planning another prank. Remus always overdosed on caffeine when they were and he got so stressed out about getting caught and getting every little detail right. He became unbearable to study with, as he was irritated and unfocused. She wasn't sure whether he was aware of any of that, as he always seemed to be surprised to find out she knew they were planning something.

"D'you want bacon?" Marlene was asking in a low whisper. Lily nodded and the older girl covertly passed her a few strips, holding a finger to her lips and glancing towards Black. As on a cue, the boy sniffed the air and turned accusingly to the two girls.

"Bacon! You said there wasn't any left!" he stared at Marlene, indignantly. She rolled her eyes and Lily hurried to eat the bacon on her plate. She knew better than to leave it laying around while Sirius was around. The boy ate anything and everything, Lily was surprised there was ever anything left.

"You've had your share, Black. Lily hasn't had any." Marlene said calmly and Sirius snorted at that. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Remus punched him in the shoulder, slightly shaking his head. Lily narrowed her eyes at them. It was far too early to argue with Black about her sex life.

James looked up from a piece of parchment at that, a sly smirk already on his face. "Well, I could definitely remedy that, Evans."

"Lost my will to live and it's not even 9 yet. You've out done yourself, Potter." 

"Aw, don't be like that. You know you want this sweet, sweet body." Potter said, gesturing up and down his torso. Remus snorted in his cup of coffee and Peter groaned, as if he had a particularly disturbing mental image. Black just cackled, wiggling his eyebrows at Lily.

"Honestly, Potter? I'd rather get with Malfoy."

Lily smiled triumphantly as Potter let out a disgusted and indignant noise that could only be described as a squawk. Marlene was chuckling at her end of the table and Lily saw her scribble a tiny line in her notebook. Lily was too busy feeling smug to really care what that was about, really.

"Well, Jamesy, you've had your chance. Now, we've got more important things to worry about than Evans pursuing that miserable excuse of a man." Black said, pointedly looking at the parchment in front of Potter. Lily fought the urge to dive over the table to snatch it up.

 

The four boys kept being secretive all through their morning classes and they were starting to get on Lily's nerves. They kept whispering to each other, laughing and she heard the word 'cockroaches' far too many times. Remus now had a permanent scowl on his face and he kept muttering to himself during Potions, mucking up another assignment. Pettigrew looked excited and a little bit anxious, which was never a good combination. The fact that Black and Potter looked absolutely delighted was just plain worrying.

At the end of Charms, Lily tugged on Remus' sleeve and pulled him into an empty classroom before he could go down to the Great Hall for lunch. She ignored his cry of surprise and practically hauled him in the classroom.

"Okay, Remus, spill. What's happening."

"I don't know what you're talking about." he said and busied himself with adjusting the strap on his bag. 

" _Remus_."

He ignored her and looked around the classroom, trying to be inconspicuous. It didn't work.

"I know you guys are planning something and, knowing Potter and Black, it's probably something incredibly stupid. Now, tell me. I might be able to help." she added when he showed no signs of even hearing her words. At her last sentence, he looked her straight in the eyes with an incredulous look.

"Lils, trust me. It's better if you don't know."

"Why?"

"Because then you won't feel guilty and you won't have to lie if people ask if you knew anything about it."

"Oh my god, Remus. Are you fucking serious?"

"I... Well... That's. Huh?"

"What?!"

"What?"

Remus was blushing furiously, looking guilty and was avoiding eye contact. Lily was just standing there, staring at her friend. This conversation was going in a direction she was not anticipating, but now she wanted to talk about that. Holy fucking shit.

"You and... and Black?" she asked. She knew Remus fancied his friend, but she always thought Remus would tell her if they would so much as kiss, let alone... do other things.

"No." Remus said, far too quickly. "Definitely not. That's disgusting. And wrong. I would never, _ever._ I don't even- why would I- I've never been with anyone, anywhere. It’s none of your- you have- the nerve, the audacity. Sirius is my best friend, technically. And he's terrible, face-wise. And, how do I know, really, that you're not with him, huh? Maybe you are. Maybe you're trying to confuse me and- and throw me off. ... This isn't working, is it." 

Lily shook her head, looking at him in amazement. She was so happy for him and so, so angry at him for not telling her and she had no idea how to react. 

"Do you always panic like that when Professors catch you during pranks?" she asked, finally. He laughed nervously and shook his head.

"No, I always have excuses prepared for that." he muttered, scratching the back of his neck. "Don't... Don't mention this to anyone? We don't really want people to know yet."

"I can see that." Lily laughed and ran her hand through her hair. "That's- wow. When-?"

"A few days after we got high on the rooftop. I, uh, I actually think he might have overheard us talking or something." Remus chuckled and tried to sound annoyed, but he just looked completely smitten. Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"And he's... You're happy? He's not being rude about it, right? I mean, you know how Black can get..."

Remus smiled and shook his head. "He likes me." he said in a dreamy tone, as if he couldn't quite believe it himself. 

"He'd be an idiot not to." Lily said. 

"Are you saying he's not an idiot anymore?" Remus smirked.

"Not a chance in Hell." The witch bit the inside of her cheek in order not to smile. She was really happy for Remus, but she wouldn't admit to anyone that she thought Sirius might be a bit smarter than she had thought. "Do Potter and Pettigrew know?"

Remus shook his head, sighing. "As James has _not_ been miming crude gestures around us, no they don't know."

"He'll be unbearable, won't he." Lily sighed, but she wasn't quite able to mask the fond tone in her voice. Luckily, Remus was apparently too busy picturing his best friend's reaction to him fucking their other best friend to notice. He was now groaning softly with his face buried in his hands.

"How do you think he'd react, though?" she asked, leaning on a table. Remus shrugged and rubbed his face. After a few moments, he dropped his hands, sighed again and walked over to her, leaning on the table as well. He looked so defeated, poor soul.

"Dunno. I mean, I hope he'll be okay with it, but, like. Sirius is like his brother, you know, and, I don't know."

Lily patted the back of his hand, smiling reassuringly. "I'm sure he'll be happy for you guys. For all his faults, Potter seems to really care about you three."

"He really, actually cares about you too, you know." Remus said seriously. "He's acting like a fucking miserable prick because he doesn't know what else to do. I think he's afraid of being himself with you, in case you wouldn't like his real self. You disliking that asshole persona is easier to accept, I suppose."

Lily gaped at her friend. For a few seconds, that was all she could do and then she managed a smile and she nudged Remus with her shoulder. "That was way deep. Thought perhaps shagging Black evaporated all your brain cells." Joking was easy in a situation like that, Lily decided. Remus snorted with amusement and shook his head.

"See, you and James aren't all that different." He ignored her glare and pushed off of the table, grinning cheekily. "Just... Give him a chance, yeah?" Remus smiled seriously at her one last time before leaving her in the classroom alone. She sighed, running a hand through her long hair. 

It bothered her that Remus apparently thought that prick of a man _cared_ for her. Thinking of Potter as an annoying bugger was so much easier than thinking about him as a thoughtful man and a loyal friend who actually liked her. No, that wouldn't do at all. Because then she'd have to admit she actually liked him, as well. She liked the obnoxious Potter, with all his jokes and pranks and poems and _'Do you want to go out with me, Evans? Come on, say yes!'_ s and she liked the stupid stuffed stag he got her. She liked the quiet, thoughtful James as well, the one who helped Pettigrew at Transfiguration and who cared so much about Remus, took in Black when he was practically homeless and who wanted a date with her so desperately he developed a weird, annoying persona.

Lily groaned and hid her blushing face in her hands. It was too embarrassing, even alone in an empty classroom. She liked James Potter, all his faults included and it was bloody ridiculous. 

 

 

...

 

 

"Do you have Prefect rounds today?" Marlene was asking her over her cup of coffee the next morning. They were the only ones at the Gryffindor table, as it was ridiculously early and there were only about ten people in the Hall altogether. 

Lily shook her head without looking up from her Charms homework. It was due that day and because of a certain wretched bespectacled menace she didn't finish it yesterday. She couldn't blame it on Potter, though, at least not out loud, because for once, he wasn't anywhere in sight last night. She couldn't focus on anything, though, because she kept thinking about him and it was incredibly distracting and nauseating. Fucking ridiculous.

"So, do you maybe want to meet up?" Marlene asked, her voice painfully casual and it made Lily smile. She liked Marlene, the older witch was easy to hang out with and she was an amazing kisser. Their relationship was casual, no strings attached and they both knew they were friends before anything else. They just liked making out, was all.

"Sure." Lily looked up this time, not even fighting the small fond smile that was playing on her lips. "That empty classroom on sixth floor?" Marlene nodded in reply and then Lily went back to her charts, still smiling. Making out with Len might just distract her enough to stop thinking about her best friend shagging a Black or, worse, liking Potter.

All of a sudden, there were screams and shrieks coming from somewhere out of the Great Hall and everybody looked up from their breakfasts, bleary eyed, yet alert. Professor McGonagall stood up from her seat at once and hurried out of the hall. The students waited for about a second before following her, intrigued. 

The screams were coming from the dungeons and Lily wondered whether the Bloody Baron had took it upon himself to have some more, equally bloody company. Narcissa Black ran into the Entrance Hall, beautiful gray robes swishing around her, her hair was in a net and she looked absolutely furious. She was yelling something, but her voice was so shrill, nobody really understood what it was that happened. There were other Slytherins behind her and they all looked murderous.

"Miss Black, what on Earth is this about?" McGonagall was saying, her eyebrows raised. Narcissa turned to her, nostrils flaring. It was incredibly satisfying, seeing the usually composed and cold girl looking so... unraveled. 

"Snakes! Snakes in our beds!" she shrieked and the rest of the Slytherins nodded along, glaring daggers at everyone that was watching.

The screaming had attracted quite a lot of people, including four sleepy, yet delighted Gryffindor boys who were doing a rather bad job at concealing their glee. Lily rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help thinking that, while extremely entertaining, the prank wasn't all that bad. Snakes in Slytherins' beds, it wasn't really that horrible. Unless... Lily narrowed her eyes at the four boys, who were watching the scene, snickering to themselves. Unless that wasn't all of it. After all, Remus was prepared to tell her he and Black were shagging, rather than telling her what the prank was about. She bit down on her lower lip, trying not to smile. If she was right, this was only the beginning for the Slytherins.

"Everyone, calm down." McGonagall snapped and Lily turned to the Professor again. By now, the Entrance Hall was filled with snickering students and very angry Slytherins.

Narcissa ignored the Gryffindor Head of House and was instead searching the crowd. Apparently, she found what - or who - she was looking for, because her eyes narrowed and she pointed a shaking finger at the four boys, who were trying - and failing spectacularly - to look innocent. 

" _You!_ " the Head Girl shrieked and the crowd around her and the four Gryffindors parted so she was able to storm off towards them. "You did this, I know it! You fucking miserable piece of-"

"Miss Black!" McGonagall yelled, her eyes widening incredulously. It was fascinating, watching Narcissa Black, who was always so graceful, calm and collected, yelling with her face all screwed, her gray eyes looking murderous as she stood before her cousin and his friends. Strands of her hair were coming out of her hair net, but she didn't seem to have noticed.

"I will not tolerate such language, especially from the Head Girl!" McGonagall continued, her eyes flashing dangerously. Narcissa slowly turned away from Sirius, who was blinking innocently at her and faced the enraged Professor. "Ten points from Slytherin. Yes, Miss Black, from Slytherin!" the Professor added when Narcissa gasped indignantly. 

"We woke up with snakes in our beds." the Head Girl said furiously. "And you're taking points from our House? Why don't you prove yourself useful instead and question _them_?" she waved towards the Marauders, but everybody was watching McGonagall instead. Nobody talked to her that way and they couldn't wait to see what would happen to Narcissa.

"Another ten points, Miss Black. And a detention." the Professor said calmly, ignoring the gasps from every Slytherin present. "Now if you will excuse me. We have to deal with the serpents in your bedrooms. Miss Black, if you would follow me."

Narcissa opened her mouth again and then wisely closed it, giving a reluctant nod. She was Head Girl and McGonagall was Deputy Headmaster and even though she was being thoroughly unfair, she was still her superior. Narcissa was a Black and knew better than to screw up her future because of one unfortunate morning.

Once the two witches were out of sight, the Hall was filled with excited chatter and the angry grumbling that was coming from Slytherins. Lily searched the crowd for Sev- Snape and found him, to her pleasure, as sour looking as always and he was whispering with his usual crowd, sending furious glances towards the Marauders, who were now walking to the Great Hall. She sighed and let the flow of people take her back to the Great Hall as well.

She still wanted to be friend with Severus, but she wanted the Severus that once was, not the Snape that he became. It was horrible, watching your best friend becoming consumed by the Dark Arts and bad intentions. For a long while, she wanted to help him, she fought to keep her best friend and to not let him become the person he eventually became. She knew their friendship was over at the end of last year, when he called her a Mudblood when she tried to help him. It hurt more than she thought it would and even though she wanted to blame Potter, she knew it wasn't his fault, not really.

Severus became Snape, the boy who hung out with bad people and she couldn't stand by and watch it. Their lives took different paths and it hurt, but there was nothing she could do. 

Once she was back at the breakfast table, staring at her Charms charts, Lily wanted to stop thinking about Snape and the friendship they could have had and focus on her homework, but it wasn't working. The Slytherin table was still empty, as the students in that House were still getting ready in their snake-infested dorms. Lily blinked at the chart that made absolutely no sense and instead poured herself another cup of coffee. As she was staring at the Slytherin table without really intending to, a piece of parchment was placed before her and she blinked once again, confused.

"Handwriting's a bit messy, but I think you should be able to figure it out," a soft voice was saying and she looked up to see a smiling Potter looking at her from across the table. She frowned at him, wondering what he was up to and somebody kicked her under the table. She turned to the general direction of the kick and Remus was staring at her pointedly.

_"Just... Give him a chance, yeah?"_

"Er. Thanks, Potter." Lily said and even gave him a small smile. Potter's entire face lit up and she wondered whether he was aware of it. 

"Don't mention it." 

Lily waited for him to ask her out again, but the question never came and she smiled again, genuinely this time. Who knew. Potter was actually pleasant when he wasn't trying ever so desperately to get into her pants.

Once again, a scream startled her, but she didn't miss the way Potter closed his eyes, seemingly enjoying the sound. She looked behind him and saw a bunch of Slytherins staring at their plates with disgust. Everybody in the Hall turned to look at them once again, amusement written on everybody's face. It was never too early to enjoy Slytherins getting pranked, it seemed.

"Oh, what now?" came the distressed voice of Professor McGonagall, who had only entered the Hall again.

Her expression was weary and Lily felt a bit sorry for her. As much as she liked seeing her least favourite House in distress, she knew McGonagall had to deal with it all and she wouldn't wish that on her worst enemy. Slytherins were difficult at their best and when they were furious, tired and indignant, they were that much worse.

"T-there's cockroaches in our food!" somebody cried out, seemingly on the edge of tears. The Hall was filled with snorts, snickers and delighted laughter at once. McGonagall closed her eyes. Lily looked around for Narcissa, but she was nowhere in sight. It was a tiny bit disappointing. Lily wasn't a vengeful person, but if there was an opportunity to see her bully find cockroaches in her food, Lily wanted to take the opportunity. She settled on observing the younger Black, who looked like he might vomit at any time. Snape was next to him, eying his food with obvious disgust and Lily cracked a smile.

"Prefects!" McGonagall called and Lily could swear she heard Remus groan. "You will help me deal with this and the rest of you will allow your fellow students to have breakfast at your tables." Her intense glare didn't allow any objections.

"Is there more?" Lily whispered to Remus as they walked over to their Professor.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," came the quiet response that was entirely too calm for Lily to believe the statement. She scoffed, but didn't push it, mainly because they were in McGonagall's earshot and, because she kinda wanted to be surprised at this point.

 

...

 

Through the whole day, Slytherins kept finding various disgusting animals wherever they went. Rats in their bags, maggots on their plates (it didn't help that they went to eat to other Houses' tables, the maggots only appeared on the plates of Slytherins), worms in their robes... 

It was morbidly fascinating, watching the usually composed and cold students shrieking in disgust, wrinkling their noses and, in one case, throwing up. She actually felt sorry for that particular girl, as she probably had done nothing to Potter and his friends and still had to live through all that. Lily decided she would have a word with Remus about targeting innocent people. She had made her peace with the Marauders pranking the people who were horrible to them, but she will not stand for innocent victims. 

Seeing Snape finding maggots in his Potions kit was a personal favourite for Lily and she wasn't able to conceal the snort-giggle that escaped her. She tried to pretend that it was about something Alice had just said and while that fooled Slughorn, it didn't fool Snape. Or Potter, it seemed. He grinned at her, apparently delighted that she found his prank funny.

The topping glorious moment for the rest of the school was when the Slytherins found armadillo bile in their desserts. It didn't seem to matter what the dessert was, armadillo bile was there. The best part was, that some of the Slytherins didn't catch on to what was happening around them and had started eating their pudding. There's something incredibly satisfying about seeing gracious purebloods splutter and choke on their food. 

It didn't end there, though. Soon after the outraged students left for their Common Room, it became obvious that somehow, a bunch of Nifflers found their way into the Slytherin dormitories.

Lily found herself wishing she had access to see the ravished rooms for herself, but McGonagall only allowed the Head Boy and the rest of the faculty members to see the damage and help in whatever way they could. It was painfully obvious to everyone that Potter, Black, Remus and Pettigrew were behind this, but no one could prove it. McGonagall questioned them, but they came out of her office without detentions and no points had been taken from their House.

Black seemed happier than ever when he was observing his brother pulling worms out of his hair and Lily didn't miss just how adoringly Remus was looking at him. 

 

 

...

 

 

"There you are." Lily said, closing the door behind her and walking over to Marlene, who was sitting on a desk, her legs dangling in the air.

"Here I am." Marlene smiled and put down the book she was reading. Lily smiled back, stepped in between Len's legs and looked down on that unbelievably pretty face. With one hand, she caressed the girl's cheek softly and the other went to her neck, brushing her fingers against it. She leaned down and kissed the lips that were still smiling at her. For her. 

At first, it was a soft brush of lips, but then Marlene put her hands around her waist, pulling her even closer. The kiss deepened, Lily's hands somehow found their way into Marlene's hair and she was totally, undeniably lost in the kiss.

Kissing girls, Lily found, was much different than kissing boys. With boys, it was all chapped lips, stubble that sometimes left burn marks on her skin and it was mostly rough. Girls, though. Girls wore chapstick, their lips were mostly soft, as was their skin and the kissing was fantastic. She loved both, kissing boys and girls, but she loved them each in a different way. 

She could feel Marlene licking her lower lip and she opened her mouth, allowing their tongues to brush against one another. It was a soft, warm affair and there was no rush in the kissing. They were just two girls who happened to like kissing each other very much. They both had a lot on their minds and making out was an excellent way to just stop thinking about it all. Lily broke the kiss then, only to place kisses on Marlene's jaw and then continuing on to her neck. Her hands travelled down to Marlene's waist as she kissed, nipped at and grazed her neck. The noises the older girl was making were absolutely magnificent and Lily smiled against her skin, placing one last kiss before going back to claiming Marlene's lips.

Marlene had tightened her grip on Lily's waist, pulling her yet even closer and Lily let her. She could feel Marlene's hands on her bum and she couldn't help but smile into the kiss. Marlene had a thing about her ass, she knew that and she adored it. 

They spent a few minutes happily making out, their hands travelling everywhere, trailing the paths they had taken so many times. They broke off eventually, but stayed close together, with Lily resting her forehead on Marlene's.

"I really do enjoy this." Marlene whispered, her lips curling into a lazy smile.

Lily hummed in agreement. She kept her eyes closed and let herself enjoy the moment. Her hands were wrapped tightly around Marlene and the older girl's hands were resting on her ass, her thumb trailing soft circles. Marlene smelled like flowers and coffee and books and it was positively intoxicating. Lily let herself breathe it all in. She wanted to remember exactly how she felt in that moment, with her lips still tingling after being kissed thoroughly and she felt happy, content. 

"'m gonna miss you next year." she admitted quietly. It was true and though they never really spoke about it, until now, they both knew Marlene's absence at Hogwarts would impact them both.

Marlene let out a small chuckle. "I'm sure Potter would be more than willing to replace me." she teased, but there was something in her voice that made Lily think she wasn't really kidding. The redhead could feel her cheeks burning and she grunted in response.

"Please don't talk about that idiot right now."

"I'll miss you too, Lils." Marlene replied with a sad smile. Lily made a small noise and moved to bury her face in Marlene's neck, tightening her arms around her torso. 

"There, there. We can still meet up in Hogsmeade, you know. And during holidays. It'll be okay." Marlene was saying and Lily nodded.

"So silly. You're my best friend, though. I get to feel sad, okay."

Marlene nodded and hummed reassuringly. "You still get me for the rest of the term. Better make the best of it." 

Lily grinned, pulled back and went back to kissing her best friend.

Things may not be perfect, but she is kissing this gorgeous woman and the gorgeous woman in question is pulling on her lower lip with her teeth and it's all Lily could do not to melt right there.

Things will be okay. Everything will be okay.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remus' little speech is from Parks and Recreation and I take absolutely no credit for it. It's a masterpiece written by Amy Poehler and the writers on that amazing, magnificent show. If you haven't seen it, what the hell are you doing with your life?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a bit long, yes. I'm sorry.

Remus stirred in his sleep, his eyelids fluttering slightly, but he didn't wake up. He mumbled something unintelligible and then made some more adorable sleepy noises. Next to him, Sirius smiled happily and stroked his hair. He was aware his behavior was somewhat creepy, but he had several good reasons.

First of all, he couldn't sleep, but he was tired so he didn't want to move. There wasn't much to do but lie in bed and watch Remus. Second, he honestly couldn't help himself. Remus was adorable as fuck, especially while asleep. Sirius really wasn't to blame here. Third, if it was just someone that he was watching, he would admit it was very creepy. However, it wasn't just someone. It was Remus, his... well, his best friend. Maybe boyfriend. Partner? 

They hadn't really talked about it and it was slowly driving Sirius insane. It was torture, not knowing what Remus thought about him, or to not know what they were. He knew Remus was seeing anyone else and neither was he, but they never specifically said they were exclusive. It wasn't that Sirius was insecure, he knew Remus liked him and vice versa - the mutual blow jobs about an hour ago proved that just fine, but he didn't know how Remus viewed him.

Were they just two friends having a little fun? Were they together? If they break up, what would happen to Marauders? What happens when they leave Hogwarts? How many Howlers would his dear Mother send him if she found out? Sure, she said Sirius was dead to her just before he ran off, but they all knew something could break that promise. Something, perhaps, like the news that her eldest son is fucking a working class, half-blood wizard. To be honest, though, Sirius was far more worried what Remus' parents would think of him. He's met them before, of course, but that was when he was their son's best friend. Did they even know Remus was gay? What if they thought Sirius wasn't good enough for Remus and made them break up?

Sirius closed his eyes, burying his face in his pillow. He was being an idiot and he knew it. Remus's parents were lovely and they would never make their son break up with his boyfriend. He was also getting ahead of himself. He didn't even know whether he was Remus' boyfriend or not. He wasn't even completely aware whether he wanted to be. It wasn't that he wouldn't like him, or that he wanted to be with anyone else.

Being with Remus has been one of the best experiences in Sirius's life and he wouldn't give that up for anything. Except... He was terrified of making it official, of everyone knowing that he was with Remus, afraid of being in a relationship. Simultaneously, he was petrified of being in a relationship with Remus and anxious about not being. He only knew he had to get his shit together, because they couldn't go on like this forever. If only he knew what 'this' was and what was coming. 

He sighed dramatically and shifted so he was looking at Remus again. He looked so peaceful, so relaxed... Even his scars didn't look as scary and sad as they did when Remus was awake and self-conscious of them. Sirius raised his hand and cupped the sleeping face gently, one thumb stroking the cheek. He may not have the answer to any of his questions, but he was able to touch Remus like that, he was able to capture the most peaceful of his moments and that was enough for now.

Remus made some more of the adorable sleepy noises and snuggled closer to Sirius, who moved his arm to the boy's waist. He curled up his other arm under his head, pressed a kiss to Remus' forehead and closed his eyes.

 

"Where the fuck is Sirius?"

"Y'don't think he went down to breakfast, right?"

"It's like 7AM. Sirius has never, and I mean, _ever_ voluntarily woken up earlier than 10. And even then he has to have at least 3 alarm clocks."

"Don't I know it. Blasted things always wake me up."

Remus hummed sleepily and buried his face in Sirius' neck, trying to block out the loud voices that woke him up. Wait. Sirius wasn't supposed to be there. He blinked his eyes open and leaned on his elbow, already panicking, though his brain was still mostly asleep. 

Every time him and Sirius slept in the same bed, one of them woke up early and went back to his respective bed, so they could pretend they didn't sleep together. Yet there Sirius was, his hair messier than ever and looking so cute in his sleep... No, that wasn't the point. Remus shook his head, sat up and tried to come up with a plan as soon as possible. It wouldn't be good at all, if James and Peter caught them in bed together. He couldn't even come up with a plausible excuse.

He groaned and rubbed his hands over his face in an attempt to properly wake up. Then, he looked down at Sirius, who seemed to be stirring. Remus panicked and clapped a hand over the boy's mouth. That seemed to do the trick. Sirius' eyes shot open and he flailed about, panic and fear written all over his face. Remus shook his head in what he thought was a reassuring manner and leaned down to quickly kiss Sirius' forehead, keeping his hand where it was. 

He motioned towards the drawn bed curtains from where James and Pete's voices could still be heard and pressed a finger to his lips. Sirius followed his gaze and relaxed visibly, nodding.

"He might be in the kitchens. Y'know, he couldn't sleep, thought a midnight snack might be a good idea and then he fell asleep there. It has happened before."

"Very true. Should we go look for him?" Peter asked and James hummed in agreement. Remus sagged with relief as he heard the door opening, but then he froze again.

"Wait, what about Remus? We should probably wake him up, you know what happened the last time we let him sleep in." James said and then there were footsteps approaching.

Sirius nudged the still frozen Remus, who jumped into action and got out the bed, careful not to open the curtains too much. It was easier said than done and in his panic, Remus stumbled out and tripped.

"I'm awake, you tossers. You're so loud you probably woke up the entire Tower." he grinned nervously as he scrambled up to his feet.

"Nah you're just sensitive." James said and helped him up. "D'you know where Sirius is?"

"What? No. Why would I - no." Remus laughed. Well, he tried to laugh, but it came out more like high-pitched hyena laughter. "Haven't seen him all night. No idea where he might be." Nailed it.

James made a face at him and chuckled softly. "You're weird in the mornings." he said fondly and Pete nodded along, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Anyway, we're going down to the kitchens to look for him. Wanna come, we could wait for you?" Pete asked.

"No, thanks. I need coffee. Bet he passed out and face-planted into chocolate cake. Has happened before."

"Yeah, to you." James laughed and lightly punched him in his pajama clad shoulder. "Remember, last year? O.W.L.s were coming up, I believe and you had chocolate cake like, every day."

"Oh, yeah." Remus nodded as the memory came back to him. 5th Year was such a blur.

"Okay, well, see you at breakfast. Try not to fall down again." Pete grinned at him and then him and James were gone.

Remus' whole body sagged with relief and his bed curtains drew back to reveal a very amused Sirius.

"I honestly don't understand this. You're used to keeping secrets and you don't usually crack under pressure, what the hell." he chuckled and Remus could only shake his head. "Also, face-planting a cake? Really? That's the first thing you thought of?"

"To be fair, you fell asleep at breakfast just last week. Well, _in_ your breakfast. You had bits of scrambled egg in your hair the whole day."

"That was an experiment! I was counting the insults Slytherins would come up with. I was actually very disappointed, they chose quantity over quality. It was sad, really." he shook his head and shrugged. "It was my fault, really, I worked myself up for some truly magnificent insults and I prepared amazing come-backs, but... Well, I got nothing."

Remus smiled fondly. Sirius looked so devastated, it was almost sad. Remus would never let him know, but he was right. The best the Slytherins could come up with was 'egg-face' and, well, really. 

"Get up. We've got to come up with a plan."

"Yes. Absolutely. Right away. We could do that.  _Or_ ," Sirius grinned devilishly, patting the mattress. "You could come back here and we could snog while those two idiots look for me."

Remus knew he should say no, he really did. Problem was, his body wasn't paying any particular attention to his brain and before he knew it, he was back on the bed, pinning Sirius down. His hands were on the either side of the boy's head, his knees on either side of his hips and his face inches away from Sirius'.

 

 

 

"Hey, look who I found." Remus deadpanned, trying very hard not to roll his eyes. They were sitting at the Gryffindor table and their friends had just walked into the Hall.

For the whole way down to the Great Hall, Sirius has been giggling to himself, incredibly amused by the idea that James and Peter were looking for him while he was with Remus. It was amusing for the first five minutes and then, when Sirius' laughter got more and more hysterical, Remus was just annoyed. 

James and Peter, who seemed confused, raised their eyebrows at Sirius and asked him where the hell he was. Sirius made up something about spending the night with some Hufflepuff girl as he stuffed his face with scrambled eggs.

Remus was barely paying attention to them, as he was busy staring daggers at Lily, who was sitting a few seats down on the other side of the table and kept wiggling her eyebrows and winking at him. She looked at Sirius, back at Remus and made exaggerated kissy faces, while obviously barely containing laughter. Remus glared at her and shook his head slowly. When that didn't work, Remus threw a bagel at her.

"What is happening right now?" a voice to Remus's right asked and both him and Lily turned to look. Marlene was sitting there and she was looking now at Lily, now at Remus with her eyebrows almost invisible in her bangs. Lily started giggling and Remus blushed, as they both shook their heads without saying anything.

Unfortunately, this got the Marauders' attention and James was now looking at them with his eyes narrowed, while Sirius started punching Remus in the shoulder in an attempt to get information.

"Yeah, what is happening? You two have been very suspicious lately." James said, pointing his toast with strawberry jam accusingly at Remus. Lily snorted and winked at James.

"Isn't it painfully obvious? We're shagging. Remus and I have become one. Our bodies joined in the holy union. We know each other as Adam and Eve had known each other." As soon as she was finished, she started laughing once again. Remus, who was staring at his bowl of porridge, bit his lip and told himself he was an extremely mature adult and would not start laughing. His body betrayed him, however, and his shoulders started shaking.

James pouted, as Sirius raised his hand to his heart and gasped dramatically.

"Remus my lad! This truly is a joyous occasion, we must celebrate! Wine must flow and there shall be enough food to feed a kingdom. Music, as beautiful as never heard before shall play and you shall dance naked under the stars, there shall be virgins and we shall drink blood, feast on the flesh of our enemies, sacrifices must be made!"

There was silence for a few moments, and then there were general sounds of disagreeable murmurs and Sirius shrugged. "Too creepy?" 

"Yeah, you kinda went off topic there..." James said, grinning at his friend. Remus shook his head, but looked at Sirius fondly. If he hadn't took the attention to himself, James would still be focused on why Remus and Lily were acting weird and they couldn't exactly just tell him. Lily winked at Remus once again and then started reading The Prophet.

The Marauders went back to their breakfast and talking about the prank they had pulled. It was a good one, Remus had to admit. He could still see some of the Slytherins picking various cockroaches out of their hair and/or bags and all of them were poking at their food with suspicion. Remus was also very proud of Prongs, as he didn't try to "woo" Lily the other day when he offered his homework, and he made it clear that he only wanted to help. Remus hoped very much that Lily could get to know the real James, the one that didn't act like an obnoxious idiot around her. He knew that Lily was warming up to him, could already see through the cracks the genuine James, and he had a growing suspicion she liked him.

When they were making their way to their first lesson, Peter went to walk next to Remus and, quietly, he asked: "You aren't actually sleeping with Lily, right?" Remus looked down at him in surprise and shook his head.

"No, Pete." he sighed. Sometimes, Peter could be so perceptive and smart, but sometimes he went ahead and said something like that. It was baffling. 

 

 

 

 

"Remus... I really don't think this is right..." Peter whispered in Potions, while staring directly at their potion.

Remus nodded, sighing. He, too, was staring at their cauldron sadly. The potion was a sickly green colour with a very unusual odor coming from it, plus there were some black bits swimming in it and that definitely wasn't supposed to be happening. Remus just wanted to make a decent potion for once, like he used to do in their early years. Now the potions were much more complicated and you had to be concentrating very hard to not mess up. Now, that was incredibly hard to do if you had Peter by your side, constantly fretting about everything and if you couldn't stop thinking about a certain best friend who looked amazing without his shirt on.

It was all Sirius' fault, Remus decided. If he wasn't so hot, Remus wouldn't have any problem at all concentrating on his potion. It'd all be so very well.

"Alright, let's just try to...get rid of the black bits, and then we'll work from there," Remus replied, once again trying to think about his class rather than Sirius. It was quite difficult with Sirius sitting at the desk behind him, humming loudly to himself.

Remus closed his eyes for a moment, pushed all thoughts of Sirius aside and focused on the disaster that was his potion. 

Him and Peter worked very hard for the rest of the lesson to make their potion better. They didn't strive for perfection at any rate, they were just trying to make it alright, decent, not a complete and horrible disaster. The process of trying to fix their work was exhausting, left the two boys with some scars, burns and a deep desire to move to another part of the country where they wouldn't have to make another potion for the rest of their lives.

Peter had to leave the class to go to Madam Pomfrey because some of the potion dripped on his robes, causing them to set on fire spontaneously and, well, he got some first degree burns. Remus, while trying to put Peter out, ruined his own robes and somewhat singed his hair. After Pete left, he was left alone with the potion and the snickering coming from all over the classroom, especially from James and Sirius. He could hear Sirius giggling and muttering _'fuckin' hell, Pete, you're on fire'_ every five minutes.

At the end of the lesson, Remus was sitting at his station, looking a right mess. His hair, in addition to being singed, had doubled in volume because of the humidity from the potion; there was something undefinable sticking to his face; he had shed his ruined robes that were now lying in a sad heap on the floor next to him, leaving Remus in his torn jeans and an ugly, overstretched sweater that one of his aunts had knitted for him. He was exhausted and just wanted all of this to be over.

"Excellent work, Miss Evans, excellent!" Slughorn commented to a proud Lily, who smiled back, nodding her thanks. She looked exhausted, too, but her potion was perfect.

"Mr. Lupin..." Slughorn sighed as he approached Remus' desk. "You do realize this was supposed to be dark blue, not bright orange? And the smell... well, it certainly shouldn't smell like fish, you see."

Remus nodded along miserably, ignoring the snickering from his classmates.

"See me after class, old boy," Slughorn shook his head disappointedly.

"Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, I see you've tweaked your potion a bit. We'll see if it works..." Slughorn commented in a disapproving voice, but Remus was just glad he had moved on from him.

 

After everyone has cleaned up and were leaving the classroom, James and Sirius left Remus with words of encouragement such as 'we'll put cockroaches in his tea if he tries to flunk you' and 'just tell him to fuck off and meet us for Transfiguration'. Despite their probable well meaning, Remus was feeling miserable and just wanted to get this conversation over with.

He knew he'd been slacking off a lot more than usual in Potions, but he didn't realize it had been bad enough that he had to talk to Slughorn about it. He turned around to head to the Professor's desk and saw Snape standing there. Remus felt an uneasiness in his stomach and, hoping that Snape was just there to suck up to Slughorn, approached the table.

"Ah, Mr. Lupin," Slughorn said, looking up and smiling at him. "I think you know why I asked to see you, old boy."

Remus nodded, avoiding looking at Snape. "I'm very sorry sir, I've been distracted lately and I know my work has suffered, I-"

"Yes, yes it has, old boy. That's why I've asked Mr. Snape here to help you out a bit." Slughorn said, smiling broadly at Snape.

Remus stared at him.

"Sir, I really don't think that's necessary-"

"Oh, it is. You need help, boy, don't be too proud to take it when it's offered."

"Alright, but I'm sure someone else can help me, Lily perhaps, or Sirius..." Remus said, ignoring Snape's self-satisfied grin.

"Miss Evans has enough on her plate, I'm afraid and I really don't think studying with Mr. Black would do you any good," Slughorn replied, not unkindly.

Remus just wanted to disappear. This was not happening.

"Sir-"

"Mr. Lupin. Mr. Snape here will help you and that's the end of it." Slughorn gave them one final smile, gathered his things and walked out, leaving the two boys alone.

Remus was staring directly ahead of himself, breathing deeply, trying not to scream and Snape was standing there, grinning in that malicious way of his.

"I've got time on Wednesday at 6. Do try to be on time, Lupin, I won't wait for you," Snape said and left, bumping into Remus' shoulder on his way.

Remus wondered why exactly the universe hated him so much.


End file.
